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Sleeping People, "Growing"
The San Diego band’s sophomore album ticks a lot of boxes. Loud; heavy; and off-kilter time signatures. When they get into it, the music flows remarkably well for such jerky rhythms. However, the longer the album goes on, the more it feels like something is missing. Sleeping People are able to make solid slabs of rock but at times they live up to their name too much as it sometimes feels that they are on autopilot. At the very least their music is fun, the odd rhythms do not sound totally contrived and instead add a bit of spice to what could have been a boring album.
The album starts off strong enough with the very brief but chirpy "Centipede's Dream" before giving way to "James Spader," which to me sounds nothing like the actor but is a good track nonetheless. The highlight of Growing comes near the halfway mark with "Mouth Breeder," which shows the group's best sides, combining quiet and melodic passages with heavier interludes. The piece then boils down to a brooding, dissonant ambience. That this dark and heavy sound is followed by what sounds like a perfect homage to Harmonia's Deluxe album impresses me no end.
If Sleeping People could keep these variations of style and mood throughout then I would be behind them 100%. Unfortunately the second half of the album sounds like they are going through the motions. My interest falls considerably by the time the last piece starts, ironically titled "People Staying Awake." Although the music is not bad, it is not setting my world alight either and I feel that what was a great EP has become a good but patchy album.
At their best, Sleeping People come across as a more melodic Pelican or a less samey Explosions in the Sky. These groups all have a similar appeal although Sleeping People do not seem as comfortable as an instrumental band as much as the others do. The way the instruments are arranged leave a lot of space in the mix. Due to this, many of the pieces sound like they are unfinished instrumentals waiting for the vocalist to put their lyrics over them. This emptiness in the mix spoils a lot of the music for me, the pieces end up sounding unbalanced. A ballsier approach to the production could have filled out the sound better, even my favorite piece "Mouth Breeder" sounds a little impotent at certain points.
Growing is an album let down by its execution rather than by performance. I imagine Sleeping People sound great playing this stuff live but surprisingly given Temporary Residence's releases normally having spectacular productions, this sounds a bit lacking. I would be willing to give them a second chance as there is promise there but as it stands this album will be taken apart and put into an MP3 playlist instead of sitting through the whole thing.
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