by Will Yarbrough (wyarbrough23@gmail.com)
If emo had its version of XXL's Freshman Class, then Good Sleepy would've cracked the list seven years ago. The Central Massachusetts natives are so young that all four were a twinkle in their mother's eye when the genre first appeared out of the Midwest. Some of them were finishing high school when their first proper studio album dropped. It might be their last, too, now that former label No Sleep Records has sadly gone to bed. Good Sleepy recorded Constant Humming all by themselves, back in the same house where the band started.
Naturally, the familiarity that surrounds Constant Humming is a blessing and a curse. For an album that was self-recorded in an unfinished basement, it packs a surprising punch. Opting to co-produce alongside Charlie Burket of Ringpop! affords Good Sleepy the luxury of staying DIY without stripping the extra padding the band needs now that they're opening 3,000 cap venues for Hot Mulligan. With a compressed crunch and gravity-blasted assist from incoming drummer Jack Wensky, "EYES WIDE OPEN" bounces off the walls like peak Sugarcult. "I can't break those habits from so long ago", bassist Thomas Sullivan shouts as if trying to wake the whole neighborhood.
Turns out, warm fuzzies from band practices of yore weren't the only ghosts looming around Sullivan's old stomping ground. Constant Humming refers to the inner monologue that he kept quiet until writing for this album started four years ago, though it doesn't take nearly as long to understand his plight. For every song questioning our routine existence ("DAY2DAY") or the possibility of a higher calling ("INCEPTION"), there are two more content on raking the coals of an extinguished relationship. Maybe it's been too long since my heart was broken or I'm just crotchety about Good Sleepy's disregard for punctuation, but with lyrics that often fail to scratch beneath the surface of the underlying wound, even the best songs can bleed together. "TRAP" escapes me until I'm reminded how easily the chorus bridges the gap between With Confidence and Defeater.
Despite the limited headspace, Good Sleepy spread their wings on Constant Humming. The band whiz through mathy riffs and swooning post-rock with improved speed and feel, but guitarists Seth Girard and Ryan Duggan have expanded their horizons. "745" is slow to rise, only to be jolted awake by lite metallic chugs that were all the rage during the Hot Topic era. While the album benefits from a touch of pop-punk's mainstream glow-up, Good Sleepy shine brightest when wearing their home state's signature post-hardcore scruff on the chin. No snooze, "ZZZ" rings eardrums with a guitar tone that's scrappier than a backyard brawl. "You're on your own / Never come back home", Sullivan shouts as if defending the nest.
Good Sleepy might not shake free of their past, but Constant Humming will stick in your rotation for the foreseeable future.