DaytonDailyNews.com

"Sugar" James Sayer knows what it's like to be alone. His band 8KOunt experienced a shakeup in 2006, when Michael Miller (bass) and Sean Davidson (drums) moved to California. Guitarist Chris Suttle departed next, leaving Sayer by himself, rattled to his core.

"I figured I could either choose to quit all together, which wasn't going to happen; I could start a brand new band; I could join a band that's already existing; or I could take 8KOunt and move forward," Sayer said. "I really believe in our music. We had a professionally recorded CD. I own the name, and we had a Web site and T-shirts. The infrastructure was all there, so when I got together with these guys it was a good fit."

Sayer is now backed by Nick "Niki T" Tirey (guitar), Robby D'Lor (bass) and Tarry "TSumms" Summers (drums), who offer a versatile backdrop to his tales of modern angst and confusion.

8KOunt celebrates the release of its "Getaway Car EP" at McGuffy's House of Rock on Saturday, Feb. 21. Local acts Seconds Fall, Chapter of Progress and Ludlow Garage also will perform.

"This disc came out pretty much how I envisioned it in my head sonically," Tirey said. "Rob Nadler at OLS (Productions) did a great job on the mixes and getting the sounds we were going for. Jim, our vocalist, always surprises me with vocal ideas in the studio, and I mean that in a very good way. It always turns out better than I expected."

Most of the songs on the new EP start with a post-grunge underbelly that's laced with a hair band's sense of dramatics and topped off with Tirey's supersized guitar solos, Sayer's ultra-melodic vocals and a rhythmic metal sheen provided by Summers and D'Lor.

"My favorite song off the album is probably 'Getaway Car,' the title track," Tirey said. "It's just one of those riffs, and the chorus is very sing-along. That's gonna be a good one live. 'Fight' is the one I'm most proud of. I think we all agree on that. It took on a life of its own in the studio, and it's just so different from what we're used to writing."

"It's great to have a recording where we feel any one of the songs could be a hit single," Sayer said. "It's a unique and great problem to have to choose the next one. It's a great recording that stands up to 8KOunt's mission of bringing BIG ROCK back to the masses."

More info: www.8kount.com

ROCK INSIDER, by contributing writer Don Thrasher, appears weekly and gives a behind-the-scenes view of the Dayton music scene. Contact Thrasher by e-mail at donaldthrasher8@aol.com.