Sick Puppies Spread Wings on Tour

With the latest Sick Puppies record debuting at 31 on the Billboard 200 and the album's hard-charging first single, 'You're Going Down,' becoming their biggest yet, the Australian alt-metal act ended a stellar 2009 by going back to where it all began. The band, which relocated to Los Angeles in 2005, supported Nickelback on their November tour of Australia, playing to massive crowds at Sydney's Acer Arena and at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre.

"It was sort of like starting from scratch," bassist Emma Anzai tells Noisecreep. "This was the first time we had been back since 2007, and we had never really toured there. We used to dream about playing these venues."

Since the release of their third full-length 'Tri-Polar' on July 14, Sick Puppies have continued to gain traction on modern rock radio. 'You're Going Down' peaked at 8 on the Rock Songs chart in September and is featured in the 'WWE Smackdown Vs. Raw 2010' video game. The group is currently touring the States alongside Breaking Benjamin.

Since their last album, 2007's 'Dressed Up as Life,' the band has taken cues from their touring mates and beefed up their sound and live show. "We did tours for the last album where we saw how other bands were connecting their songs with the crowd. We wanted to be more raw and aggressive," says Anzai. "Luckily, there's a great market for hard rock bands in the U.S., so we got to change and spread our wings a little more."

Sick Puppies recently completed a video for emotional second single 'Odd One,' which Anzai describes as "a love story with a young, slightly odd girl at the center". After the Breaking Benjamin tour wraps up on Dec. 17, the band plans to rejoin Nickelback on the road for more shows next spring.

"Nickelback is amazing in their professionalism on stage. They're really consistent every single night," says Anzai. "It just prevents us from ever being complacent. We've got a lot of hard work to do until we reach that level."