Search - Big Sleep :: Son of the Tiger

Cool mix of sounds, great live show...

Wounded Knee | Ohio's North Coast... | 03/20/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Big Sleep is a largely instrumental trio from NYC who blend shoegaze and Sabbath with dabblings in slide guitar and electronica. Perhaps like Mogwai, you ask? While songs like "Like Herod" and "Mogwai Fear Satan" might be tangental reference points, Big Sleep sticks to more conventional rock explorations as a whole than Mogwai, and it works to the band's benefit (but don't get me wrong - I love what Mogwai does too). Note to the audiophiles: The guitarist gets a variety of cool sounds and tones (both live and on album), thanks to a combination of a hollowbody guitar, lots of gain and liberal use of reverbs and delays... Not unlike Jesus and Mary Chain stuff in some passages, I suppose. The rhythm sections are tight, and the drummer has some cool beats and fills. My favorite heavier songs are "Murder" and "Locomotion", although "Menemy" is a great slow jammer with contemplative acoustic picking in the background. The album closer, "New Strings", is my choice pick, though -- it's easy to get lost in the crescendo.



Have to dock a star for the weak (somewhat off-key and perhaps poorly mixed?) vocals on the few tracks that feature singing, as well as because the album cover and liner notes seem slapped together. Those criticisms notwithstanding, this is a solid modern rock album that is worthy of repeated listens."