Sleepy Sun - Fever [2010]

OPENING an album with a track that sounds more like it should be a centrepiece is already par for the course for San Franciscan psych prog-rockers Sleepy Sun. The sextet did it on their debut album of last year, Embrace, with seven-minute opener New Age and  on their second release, Fever, they again make it clear from the outset that they like to think big.

Opening six-minute song Marina weaves distorted guitar lines through dreamy, cavernous verses, impassioned vocal harmonies and primal drum breakdowns. At times Sleepy Sun recalls the melodic, searing power of the Smashing Pumpkins’ Gish album as they move from the more aggressive and fuzzy-edged soundscapes of Embrace, which probably had more in common with Monster Magnet.

On songs such as the percussionless drone of Acid Love and the sleepy Desert God, the whiff of patchouli, or something stronger, is never too far away. The nine-minute closer, Sandstorm Woman, travels a predictable path from a quiet intro to a clamorous wig-out finale, but otherwise Fever shows an expanded palette from Embrace. A fair bet they’d be a mind-blowing live band.
smh.com.au
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