Forming through friendships, roommates, and late night jam sessions, Brooklyn band the Sleepies have recently added to their roster of releases, which already include a full-length by the name of Join The Shark and a split cassette with Old Testament Heroes. Now on that list is the bands self-titled LP, a 13-track offering available on a limited 200 hand-screened copies and recorded by Ben Greenberg (Pygmy Shrews, Z’s). A band that endorses house shows, John Madden, and imaginary band feuds, but has no time for machismo or the last episode of Battlestar Galactica, this charismatic trio delivers some seriously poppy punk rock. Not taking the route of pop punk in its more recent definition, the sound of the Sleepies is all jangly guitars, crushing percussion, and hoarse shouts that you just know the front man look like a bouncing bobble head while singing.
Sleepies, the record, is full of catchy song titles such as “Get Fucked” and “Hypochondriac Blues” putting them right in line with the tongue in cheek, aggressive minute long bursts of bands like The Minutemen. A slight fuzziness to the records overall sounds makes it feel like you are catching the band in some crowded, sweaty basement or perhaps in a late 80’s VFW along with a few flabbergasted veterans. Definitely a record for those who like their bass plunky, their vocals ragged, and their melodies bouncing, the Sleepies are a wonderfully unkempt example of what punk rock used to be.
Two for the price of nothing: Free Download of the Sleepies EP and Split with Old Testament Heroes
The band recently talked with us about their new LP, their biggest influences, and what they’ll be up to next:
Reviewsic: Can you give us a quick recap of what the band has been up to as of late?
Josh: We’ve been slacking off a bit so far this summer. January through May was pretty much spent recording, pressing and printing our LPs as well as planning a short tour that we did in May and playing local shows. Luckily we’re starting getting our steam back a little and have been playing more shows and writing new stuff again.
Thomas: Trying to track down a Tascam Portastudio 424 MKIII 4-track recorder. If you’re selling yours, drop us a line.
Reviewsic: What is the back-story on how the band came to be what it is today?
Josh: Thomas and I have been roommates for about 6 years now. We used to buy a cheap bottle of wine each and play guitar together for hours every night so that’s really how we started writing together. Max lived with us too but we must not have believed him when he told us that he played the drums because we were drummerless for about a year. Eventually we started a band, called The Coast, that played 1 and a half shows with a different drummer but when he moved away, we finally came to our senses and asked Max to play with us. Over time that sort of morphed into Sleepies.
Max: You were right to not believe me: I was bluffing!
Reviewsic: What are your top three musical influences?
Josh: They change just about every day but the Pixies always seem to stay atop the list.
Max: I agree with Josh here, especially if you situate them in the context of those “Our Band Could Be Your Life” bands that kept punk rock weird (Butthole Surfers, Sonic Youth, Hüsker Dü, the Minutemen, etc.; but also!: Feederz, Dicks, Fang, and so on). But I would also add, for good measure, Nirvana, Billy Bragg, and Hickey.
Thomas: Lester Bangs, The Feelies and Van Morrison.
Reviewsic: Is there any instrument you don’t play, but wish you did?
Josh: Theramin.
Max: Clarence Clemons-style saxophone.
Reviewsic: What are the last three albums or bands you listened to?
Josh: Marked Men – “Ghosts”, Monks – “Black Monk Time”, Gary U.S. Bonds – “The Very Best of”
Max: Janelle Monáe – “The ArchAndroid”, Lesley Gore – “The Golden Hits of Leslie Gore”, Green Day – “Insomniac”
Thomas: Ty Segall – “Melted” Butterglory – “Crumble” and the new Vaselines song “I Hate the 80s”
Reviewsic: If you could work with one person in the music industry (musician, label, producer etc), who would it be and why?
Josh: Phil Spector so long as he promises not to shoot us. I really want our next album to sound like a better version of “End of the Century”
Max: Steve Albini, so long as he promises not to shoot us.
Reviewsic: What is the most memorable concert you’ve ever attended?
Josh: I saw Joe Strummer a few months before he died. His New York date was on a school night and my mom wouldn’t let me go so I took a train to see him in Philadelphia at a converted movie theater. So worth it!
Reviewsic: Who are three of your favorite local bands?
Josh: Highway Gimps, Pygmy Shrews & The Men.
Max: I think at one point all of Partyline lived here – or still does? – so I’m gonna go with them and Bad Credit No Credit, who are beyond wonderful.
Thomas: Mr. Dream and Reggie Watts
Reviewsic: If you could book a tour with any 3 bands, past or present, who would they be and why?
Josh: Definitely our friends Leg Sweeper from Texas. Those are the funnest dudes on the planet and we will tour with them again sometime for sure. The other two would just be bands that I never got a chance to see and wish I had: Fugazi and The Wipers.
Reviewsic: Tell us about your music – what pushed you towards this genre, what goes into your writing process, etc??
Josh: One thing that I think is pretty cool about our music is that we’re not afraid to admit that we grew up on pop punk. We don’t shy away from melody and song structure. A lot of kids our age like to pretend they didn’t go to the Warped Tour every summer. Fortunately, I think we also bring in a lot of the other (and admittedly better) stuff that we’ve heard since we were 13. I’m glad we’re more than just a Lagwagon clone band. At least I hope we are…
Max: At the same time, I think it’s kinda strange when people call us a pop-punk band, ‘cos I think it’s at least a little more off kilter than that – but every pop punk band probably says that. I think the most important thing is that we’re restless editors, so we’re always looking to spazz out the catchy songs and give the spazzy songs some hooks.
Thomas: This is the largest automobile we could afford.
Reviewsic: How would you compare yourselves as musicians at this point as opposed to when you first began playing together?
Josh: Oh my goodness, we’re all so much better. We’ve recently developed the ability to improvise songs at practice and pick up on everyone else’s cues and whatnot. The first time we “jammed” we all looked at each other and were like, “Holy shit! How did we do that?” Unfortunately, since starting this, we spend a lot more time at practice goofing off and playing silly shit rather than working. Usually I’m just trying to get Max and Thomas to play “My Sharona” with me.
Reviewsic: What are some of your favorite cities and/or venues to play?
Josh: We love playing house shows. We haven’t toured much but my favorite shows so far have been a graduation BBQ in Asheville, North Carolina, a show at a DIY space with 1 electrical outlet and no running water in Dallas, Texas and a bunch of basement shows in Philadelphia where we’ve made some spectacular friends.
Max: Props also to Dead Herring in Brooklyn, the most fun – and cleanest! – house show venue in the city.
Reviewsic: What are the best and worst band moments so far in your career?
Josh: The worst was probably when we played at 2 am to only a band of 18 year old gutter punks from New Orleans. They were hurling themselves at us while we played and I kept getting electrocuted by my microphone. It was like playing in an obstacle course. The best moment was probably hearing our new album for the first time. I’m pretty fucking proud of it.
Max: Josh nailed this one, though the gutter punks were really nice guys, I swear.
Reviewsic: What are a few items essential to your “tour survival kit”?
Josh: We spent a lot of time on the last tour playing Hearts. Before shows, after shows, at dinner, etc. so a deck of cards is pretty key. That and lots and lots of snacks.
Max: Husserl’s “Logical Investigations” and a copy of ‘Darkness on the Edge of Town’ on the stereo…the other two guys might dispute those. And Juliet, our fourth member.
Thomas: An extra set of keys. That and the Creedence.
Reviewsic: What are your plans for music in the next year?
Josh: Hopefully a west coast tour in January. Other than that, writing new stuff and putting out more records.
