Sleepover

Sleepover (2.09, Moon Dial)

For: Sarge, Tiger Trap, Sarah Records 1987-1995

Byline: As Twee as they wanna be.

In my interview with Gavin's Underground Blog I gave a list of SLC artists whose upcoming 2010 releases I was excited for. In that list I mentioned the obvious big names of artists who would be releasing albums this year: Silver Antlers, High Country, Chaz Prymek, Stag Hare...I can't believe I forgot Sleepover! If there has been a band that has garnered justifiable buzz here in SLC it has been the precious sounds of these twee renaissance harbingers. Playing a handful of shows between here and Provo, being featured in SLUG localized, and been given shout-outs up and down, the moment has finally arrived. The Sleepover album. Comin' straight out of C-86, Sleepover combine shambling, upbeat major chords, backed by a tight rhythm (probably better than any drummer you will hear in any recording labeled Twee), and Lydia Worden's incredible ear for melody and ability to deliver a killer chorus. The line-up is pretty prestigious: bassist Braden McKenna, mastermind behind Navigator, WYLD WYZYRDS, and his eponymous projects, along with drummer Stephen Walter who moonlights in just about every worthwhile band in SLC, and Lydia Worden who has debuted as Cousin Songs and her upcoming hip-hop solo project (!!!1!!!). Enough exposition, Sleepover's self-titled debut prove they are heirs to Tiger Trap's throne and, along with The Pains of Being Pure in Heart and It Hugs Back as riding the crest of second-wave twee revival. The misconception has always been that just because Twee music is cute and simple: Major chord dominant progressions with zero distortion, cardboard drums, and lyrics about crushes, crushes, and more crushes, that the whole package is cute and simple. This is simply not true with Sleepover. Bands at the mercy of a principal singer/songwriter can often feel like an insular projection of that sole agent. As such, Sleepover can be seen as time-capsule of the past year for Lydia Worden. Worden's Lyrics, while typically cast as upbeat and cutesy in twee, are in fact, often at odds with the upbeat chord progression she is hammering out. Themes of unrequited love and societal backlash towards her sexual orientation replace taking naps with kittens under trees and schoolgirl crushes (those sentiments are there, just not in spades). Her melodic cadence is laced with ennui and justifiable frustration. This however, does not take the music down a notch, in fact, it bolsters its jangly pop with something real and cathartic. With this said, Sleepover doesn't sink or swim on one factor, Braden's competent bass work breaks into moments of brilliance often rising to prominence in "And You" and their eponymous jam "Sleepover". And back to drumming, twee drummers mostly just show up to keep time, but Stephen Walter, while somewhat muzzled by the aesthetic, keeps the entire sound together with his steady sense of time. In short, Sleepover transcends the temptation to write them off as a nostalgic nod to an oft-maligned sub-genre and a time when talent was not a prerequisite to start a band, the combination of heartfelt and honest songwriting coupled with confident and pitch-perfect instrumentation show the depth of talent that goes into recording Sleepover. In an era where adherence to a genre is an anomoly, Sleepover stick to their twee guns and delve deep into themselves to fill out 2010's already impeccable track record of rewarding albums.

Sleepover Myspace

Pastels/Tenniscoats

Two Sunsets (Domino, 10.09)

For: Gentle Waves, Orange Juice, Daisuke Miyatani

Byline: Glasgow’s The Pastels and Tokyo’s Tenniscoats bridge the gap be-twee-n C86 guitar pop and today’s Japanese orchestral folk. Orignially published on www.inyourspeakers.com used by permission from In Your Speakers LLC.

If you were in High School when CMJ’s C86 cassette came out you will love this album. If you were in High School when Belle and Sebastian’s Fold Your Hands Child You Walk Like a Peasant you will love this. If you have an ear for woozy, fragile-as-an-eggshell pop melodies centered around jangley guitar lines and sing-song male/female vocals…So the cyclical nature of this review goes. Two Sunsets is a collaboration of legendary twee-pop all-stars The Pastels, who rival Sonic Youth for being the longest running, musically relevant band today, and likeminded Japanese duo the Tenniscoats. Two Sunsets is a major accomplishment for both Geographically challenged bands.

The collaboration started innocently enough. A simple studio exploration of two bands who shared a mutual admiration for each other. Fans who recognize and forgive The Pastels loquacious crawl towards a perfect album (this is their first proper release in 11 years!) shouldn’t be surprised that Tenniscoats took the Bull by its proverbial horns in this collaborative tag team. They also shouldn’t be surprised that this took 2 years to release. But what we have is definitely worth the wait.

Two Sunsets starts with a gentle instrumental track that pays homage to the two bands hometowns, “Tokyo Glasgow” and sounds exactly you would think a creative collaboration between the two capitols of mope-core pop and lullaby-core orchestral folk would sound like. Sort of like Daisuke Miyatani meets the Gentle Waves meets Teenage Fanclub. Fluttering minor-key piano lines dip in and out of a skeletal guitar and organ riff that serves as the back bone of the track while some muted trumpets and some unidentified woodwind (which makes numerous appearances on the album) drive the track along its Sunday afternoon canter.

A track-by-track tag team of Japanese and English vocals follow a linear path while Saya Takashi’s childlike lullaby compliments Katrina Mitchell’s velveteen coo. Stephen McRobbie and Teenage Fanclub’s Gerard Love’s restrained guitar lines weave a protective blanket of warmness over the entire recording. The most rewarding moments on Two Sunsets are when the unexpected flourishes, the “yeah that might sound cool” studio experimentation, take over the entire space between your headphones. For example, 70’s Spaghetti-Western harmonica and dulcimer compete for space over Gerard Love’s twinkling guitar lines in the last minute and a half of “Song for a Friend”. A really wonderful thing happens when you have to wonder when something was recorded.

Since we are on the topic of the most arresting song on the album, “Song for a Friend”, there is a moment when Stephen McRobbie’s heavily accented Glasgow croon replaces Saya Takashi’s tiny Japanese voice that takes my breath away. “Vivid Youth”, the first single off the album is a perfect accompaniment for watching sparks ascend and die out against the back drop of a starry summer night. Michell’s husky bedroom melody lilts gently over a bouncy bass line and sort of seventies T.V show jazzy guitar line. The only problem with this track is that it sounds the most like the Pastels. Where did you put those cute Tenniscoats? The great strengths about this record is that neither band really sound like themselves. Together in a collaborative embrace they take on each others signature characteristics and become a new entity all together. So when the Tenniscoats darling instrumentation and sing songy voices are gone, it is way too soon to call this a new Pastel’s record.

With a possible twee revival looming in the future -2009 has already been graced by releases by It Hugs Back, Vivian Girls and SLEEPOVER – Pastels/Tenniscoats take us back to time when “Indie” simply meant a straight ahead guitar rock band and to have “fragile” or “delicate” or even “cute” used as an adjective was both a patch of honor on your tweed jacket as well as insult hurled your way by punks with shaved heads. Ah, to be in 1986 again. Too bad I was only 2 when that happened.

Ryan H.