by Dan Goldin (@post_trash_)
While Brooklyn’s Sleepies may not be what you’d call a “particularly active” band, with each new release we’re gifted from the quartet, it’s a reminder that what is dormant is not dead. Following up 2017’s Melt To You EP (which we had the pleasure of premiering), the gang returns with a new full length, their first in four years. Time v Pleasure, due out February 28th, is an eclectic offering, bringing you both the Sleepies you know and love, and much like it’s predecessor, pushing their sound to unknown territories, experimenting along the way. It’s an album less about first impressions and more about repeat listens, each play revealing something a bit different.
The album opener, “Something Better,” is nearly unrecognizable to the Sleepies of the past, but it’s a welcome shift, one built on repetition and post-punk in a new way. With a minimalist approach, the band build on a Stereolab-esque boogie, opting for a futuristic push to motorik bliss. For anyone weary of change, Sleepies come charging back on the very next track, “Ancient Dirt,” a blistering punk song that stands with their classic output (yes, I’m calling Weird Wild World classic), tight and nuanced with noise and hypnotic attack. Time v Pleasure is adept to never stay in one place for too long, as the record shifts yet again on “Container 8,” a haunting dirge of pulsing bass and atmospheric distortion. It’s a wild ride that makes more sense with every successive listen, and we do recommend giving it a good deal of listens.
From the bright and jagged title track that recalls early Gang of Four in its guitar tones and nimble rhythms, the Wipers influenced riffs of “Electric I,” and the demented Devo-like groove of “Everything Urgently,” Sleepies may be flipping through the post-punk legends handbook, but everything feels natural and unique. They have adapted forward thinking punk into their own formula, proving themselves capable of a multitude of sounds, and forming cohesion in the process. “Active” or not, Sleepies remain a Brooklyn DIY punk treasure.