Sock Bucket’s latest album, Re-Juicing, is a testament to the creative potential of solo projects. The album is a collection of guitar-based instrumental pieces that showcase the diverse range of Tommy Binks’ musical talent. While primarily an ongoing recording project, Sock Bucket has been known to perform live as a singer-songwriter and guitar player.
For Re-Juicing, Binks took a different approach to his music-making process. Instead of releasing single tracks sporadically, he focused on creating a cohesive album all at once. The result is a collection of intense and focused recordings made during a week or two in late January and early February 2023. Binks admits that he may not have been at his physical and emotional best during the recording process, but the end product was worth it.
One unique aspect of Re-Juicing is that the entire album was recorded in “The Cozy Tent,” a makeshift vocal booth made of blankets and garden poles at Tommy’s dad’s house. This unconventional recording location adds to the album’s charm and demonstrates the creativity and resourcefulness of the Sock Bucket project.
From back to front, Re-Juicing is an impressive display of musical imagination. Binks’ guitar-based instrumental pieces are engaging and varied, and the album’s cohesive yet continually evolving structure shows how him being zoned in, hooked into the process if you will, creates an outlet that’s colourful and vibrant.
The chirpiness and warmth of “Back in the Bucket” to the more hallowing and unsettling eeriness of the album’s titular track showcase the diversity in his conceptions and the imagination to his melodies. A magician with sound with a creative spark that’s envious.