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Music

Sleepy make melodic alternative rock dripping with energy that works a charm

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Sydney rockers Sleepy have a rare and unique ability. They make you want to go crazy and dance around with the most ridiculous object in your apartment, all the while sounding like they’re playing their music lying down. That’s the best way we can sum them up without plagiarising the bands description of themselves. They really do say it best. A 90s slacker dream indeed.

Sleepy introduction

Sydney trio Sleepy make melodic, fuzz-textured alternative rock that oozes 90s slacker vibes, perfect for either a wild house party or a lazy Sunday.

Martin (guitar, vocals), Sarah (bass) and Cook (drums) keep it simple as a three-piece. The brand really bring the thick, tangible, fuzzy walls of sound that characterised many 90s rock bands to life, with riffs catchier than a fishing rod and lyrics almost blending with, but perfectly complimenting, the music.

Martin lists Magnetic Fields and Magic dirt as two bands he really loves. “They [Magic Dirt] were the first band I saw live and I got to see them a lot when they were still going. I guess the fuzzy guitar tone is something that I can’t really shake.”

Formed like so many bands are, in a share house jamming out, Sleepy have announced August 22nd as the release date for their debut self-titled EP. So far two tracks have been released, The Ride Up and Hardest Part, with two more to come. One can tell when a band is good at writing songs. Everything just sounds so smooth and effortless, and that’s the case with these tracks, The Ride Up in particular. Martin modestly agrees saying 90 percent of a song comes along pretty quickly.

“I try to edit out the crap I write before I bring it to the band. As a band we play around with the song until it sounds like something we can play live. It takes a while to finalise the little bits…words can be a struggle.”

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Recorded at a friend’s home studio for free – “We didn’t have any money so it worked out well (for us anyway),” says Martin – the EP promises to be a short and sweet injection of alternative indie rock that also got some treatment from none other than Jay Whalley (Frenzal Rhomb) at Troy Horse in Sydney, a nice name to have in the credits. The band said he’s always been great.

“We recorded a 7″ with Jay last year and he was great to work with so we were keen to go with him again for the EP. He has a really good ear for vocals and got the harmonies sounding nice,” said Sarah.

Both tracks are infectious buzzing forces, beating out percussion with the vivacity and lifespan of a stinging bee, yet they are also able to make you feel relaxed, like you can feel good about doing absolutely nothing but listen to music, which is what we all dream of. It’s hard to imagine these songs weren’t specifically written with a theme in mind but Martin said there was no coordinated message behind the EP.

“I think they were the four most recent songs we had at the time. We had just got a new drummer and we wanted to do something that sounded new and fun, to us at least.”

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It all sounds pretty fun to us as well, don’t worry. It’s great when a band really personifies their music and both Martin and Sarah stated they had pretty chilled out hobbies. While Martin developed a dangerous addiction to Candy Crush – “it was really starting to affect my day to day life” – Sarah has the couch potato thing down pat.

“I enjoy watching re-runs of Seinfeld and 90s teen dramas. It makes me happy that Joey chose Pacey,” she said. Martin goes further, saying if the band were an animal they would be something nocturnal and likes to sleep a lot.

“For some reason I want to say koala. I hear they have an issue with Chlamydia though, so maybe a koala that is STI free. They look really cute but they could probably kill you if they wanted. So yeah, a disease free and mostly nonviolent Koala.”

So there you go, if you’re into the noisy bliss that is 90s rock in 2015, give Sleepy the time of day. You won’t regret it. The EP launch takes place at Brighton Up Bar on August 22nd with Shaky Handz, Wolf Cola, and Zzzounds.

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