by Dan Goldin (@post_trash_)
A few weeks back we had the pleasure of premiering Sleepies' new single "Barf Haus," a quick and clever blast of the Brooklyn quartet's nervy post-punk. The lead of track from their Melt To You EP is built upon punk scorn and raw yet catchy indie rock, a sound the have perfected over the years, but the rest of the record expands outward, squirming in all directions. We mentioned their latest effort relied on sonic diversity, claiming "the band take four divergent paths, each as intriguing as the last" and now you can stream the album in full, ahead of tomorrow's release.
Following the ragged sheen of "Barf Haus," Sleepies slink on into "Hive Shadow," a colder and more calculated approach to post-punk that takes on the dark-edge of the 80's with a rubbery bass line and sharp mechanical beat. Wallowing in sludgy territory, the song is colored with skronks and jittery noise that crawls just beneath the skin, riding out the extended groove with anguished howls and dissonant guitars. "Detective Behavior" shifts toward a gloriously obnoxious sound, opting for a jangly rumble that would make The Fall proud. The knotted guitars scrape together, like gnashing teeth, eventually settling into the dust before rising back into their spaghetti Western sound. Melt To You closes with "I Wanna Holler," a cover of Gary U.S. Bonds' R&B song. Replacing the original's finger snaps with surfy guitars and a hypnotic rhythm, the track punches with gorgeous atmosphere, both disarming and undeniably catchy. Sleepies have done it again and they remain one of Brooklyn's best kept secrets.
Sleepies' Melt To You is out tomorrow, September 29th, via Mirror Universe. The band will celebrate the release tomorrow night at The Glove in Brooklyn with Sodium Beast, Chat Logs, and C'yotes.