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Band: Sleep For Sleepers
Title: The Clearing
Label: Dreamt Music / Facedown Records
Release Date: May 12, 2009
Review By: Scott L
Tracklisting:
01. Bravery
02. Thieves And Bones
03. Foreign
04. Keep Your Voices
05. Statelines
06. The Harbor
07. The Fearless
08. Twilight
09. The Distance
10. The Sea
11. Love Is For The Foolish
12. The Clearing
I could never be a Mormon. For a number of reasons. Aside from their abuse of scripture and embracing of extra-Biblical revelation… my biggest problem with their doctrine isn’t about spirit babies, magic underwear, or name badges… it revolves around caffeine. I happen to love the stuff. I also happen to need the stuff… because I have a problem with sleeping. Namely, I don’t like to do it… so I don’t. At least, not nearly as often as I should. I’ve always secretly envied people that could discipline themselves to go to sleep early. I also envy those that can marathon sleep for like 12 or 14 hours at a time. Did you know that snails can sleep for 2 years? True story. Sleep to me has always been kind of a necessary evil. But I’ve found something that might just sway my opinion. Because if this is sleep… I like it.
Sleep For Sleepers is a 3-piece out of Whittier, California that plays a soothing style of indie rock. The pendulum swings from melancholy rock to more pop-oriented rock to an almost old-school emo rock. Sleep For Sleepers’ sound is both pleasantly familiar and hard to pin down. There are a whole lot of elements working together to make their sound what it is. I’d draw comparisons to This Providence, Deas Vail, and Ocean Is Theory to a certain degree.
Sleep For Sleepers is set to release this 12-song CD on May 12th through Dreamt Music / Facedown Records. Some may be familiar with the content of this CD as it was originally released last year independently. And, if you really want to get technical, three of the songs on this CD were originally released by Sleep For Sleepers’ previous incarnation, The Red Coterie, back in 2007. But you won’t hear me complaining; two of the three re-re-released songs were my standout tracks. More on that in a minute.
Now using descriptive words like ‘soothing’ and ‘melancholy’ in no way implies that these guys’ll put you to sleep. Although, if I were a doctor, I’d give some serious thought to prescribing an hour a day of Sleep For Sleepers to patients with high blood pressure. That, along with an aquarium of tropical fish, could work wonders. “The Clearing” is relaxation on demand. And highly enjoyable relaxation at that. I could listen to this stuff for hours. I know it, because I just did it… and never once did I reach for the ‘skip’ button.
Lyrically, Sleep For Sleepers keeps things pretty neutral. From time to time blending in a somewhat more spiritual sentiment, like in the title track, “The Clearing”… “I’ve searched through valleys and fought in the cold / but never found rest in me / eager eyes, would you lean in here / would you face your fears / for I am convinced that it’s love that you’ve shown me / while I’ve tested seasons in search for your glory”.
Standout tracks were “The Sea” and “Keep Your Voices”. “The Sea” is an amazing piano piece that flows along for two and a half minutes with some beautiful vocal harmonies before boiling over for a final minute of pure passion. “Keep Your Voices” is an outstanding sing-along pop anthem and would be the first radio single if I had any say in it. Which I don’t. But I can dream. “Statelines” was a close runner-up. It’s infectious and hard not to get swept up into it… especially since it starts out with clapping. That’s right… with hands. Not applause, just clapping to the beat. You’ll have to hear it to appreciate it. But I guaranty that if you do hear it, you will like it.
Overall: “The Clearing” is an excellent addition to the Dreamt Music / Facedown Records family and definitely deserves the attention of the wider audience a label release affords. While I’m partial to the CD cover of the independently released version, this re-release is pretty much a gimme if you’re into mellow indie rock with some great pop sensibilities thrown in at times. So save your laundry money, it’s not gonna hurt you to wear that shirt one more time… it’s for a great cause. And you’ll get a great CD out of the deal.
www.myspace.com/sleepforsleepers
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| 09/03/2010 04:52 am | News
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8 out of 10… TylerH wept.
not so quick, friend :)
http://www.indievisionmusic.com/2008/10/21/sleep-for-sleepers-the-cleaning/
Actually, I meant the score. Yet another 8. :-) Brandon had asked me to review this re-release… even after I mentioned that the independent release was previously reviewed. I had to get it out prior to the release date so this won’t count toward my coup de grace. :-)
haha i was just showing you that i also gave it an 8 hahaha :)
besides, this album is wayyy different…uh…cover art haha
thx for the TD cd i got it today…and…whatever that eyeball thing was haha! i should have a review up shortly, its one of those cd’s that you kind of “get” right away
wonderful review, one of (or probably the) best i’ve seen on here lately. very well written. this album/band is amazing too, a friend of mine is buying us both the preorder package. :D
I’m still waiting for the day there’s some exciting ‘indie rock’. It seems a prerequisite for a lot of it is it has to be mellow and anything but entertaining. I guess it’s just a pseudo-genre I’ll never be able to get into. Either that or just haven’t heard it done right.
thirdsaint…if you want exciting…get into punk rock ;)
I did a little, remember you helped me with that? :P
Yo. Scott. I try not to be too offended but… I’m done with IVM. I’ve held my tongue about certain things, but bad mouthing another religion? In a review? I realize it could’ve been a lot worse. A lot worse. But that was un-called for. And this isn’t the first time I’ve seen it on this site.
That goes for any religion, by the way. Stuff like that is saved for the forums. Not reviews.
it may have been unnecessary…but not untrue. God doesn’t respect other religions…He calls them much worse things than Scott called them…its much more useful to state your opinion than to huff off in a storm.
Tyler…huff? Don’t patronize me just because you’re older. I’m tired of that attitude around here.
Whether it’s “true” or not shouldn’t even be debated on the IVM mainsite. This is MUSIC, not who follows better beliefs or not. Maybe you guys forgot that.
David…
it isn’t patronizing just because you’re acting immaturely and it has nothing to do with age. also, IVM isn’t just about music, but about faith as well. if it weren’t, we’d be busy talking about blink182 and we’d be called absolutepunk. you could at least be honest. you’re ticked because he made fun of mormons and you have at least one relative who is mormon. you could just as easily say what you really think without saying all of IVM is the worst thing ever because a reviewer said something that you didnt like and that over the last year other people have said things you didnt like. if that were the case then you probably wouldnt be able to stay anywhere for very long because somebody is going to say something offensive anywhere you go.
Tyler. I’M LDS. That’s why it matters.
I’m not saying IVM is the worst thing ever. Nor am I acting immature. But how can we support making fun of religions? Doesn’t matter who is right or wrong. Aren’t we tearing down God’s kingdom when we’re not supporting each other? Where is the good in that? As much as I don’t agree with Southern Baptists or Muslims, etc, I keep my thoughts to myself, especially when they could be considered hurtful or disrespectful. There’s no need for me to say anything that doesn’t need to be said.
And I realize people are going to say something offensive everywhere you go. But it’s the fact this kind of thing is tolerated on a site like this that offends me.
Trust me, Tyler, I could be a lot more immature if you wanted me to. Oh, could I ever. I left because of issues like this before, how there is such an elitism here that drives me crazy. But I thought, “Hey, maybe things are better.” Nahhhhhh. They’re not.
Once again, Scott, this isn’t an attack AT you. Just I don’t see what the point was of saying that, and how I can’t stand no one will stand up for anyone else except themselves. What a Christian community, eh?
And there’s no point of you continuing on how I’m immature because I’m going to stop reading this thread after I post this. No point.
However.
Minus the first paragraph, I loved the review, and will be picking up the album as soon as I get some spare cash.
I didn’t realize you had gone back to that, I knew you grew up with that.
It isn’t tearing down God’s kingdom to point out flaws in a false religion, most of the New Testament was written based on pointing out the flaws in false beliefs and it says many things that are disrespectful to those beliefs, and rightfully so since they are demonic. Perhaps Scott could have said it in a better way, but I am guessing that he assumed he was writing mostly for other Christians. Any site that allows for comments and debate is going to have those who think that their opinion is better than everyone else’s, its pretty much how this country works. and someone is standing up for someone else…i’m standing up for Scott.
I think that even though what Scott wrote about Mormons may be true, it just doesn’t feel right to me to start this review this way. I loved though the way he puts his love for coffeine, sleep and stuff before ending with “Because if this is sleep… I like it.”. But there were so many different ways that this review could have started with, so many funny stories that could have been wrote about sleep and coffee. But i also do believe that this has the potential to offend people, and given that Sleep For Sleeper’s album has nothing to do with mormons, it’s, in my opinion, a bad choice.
I first red the comments before the review and thought they were mormons or had a song about mormons and Scott was saying what he believes mormons are. But that’s the case, and in order to avoid such controversy i guess removing or changing that intro is the best thing to do, in respect for the mormons and the band, who gets somehow involved because of that.
The reviewers’ opinions are his. Simple enough. End of story. Lets move on now.
dude, are they mormons? how was that relivant. no matter…good band.
i haven’t listen to this yet… just thought i’d put that out there
and i agree with Len.
these dudes fail at eating a 18inch burrito….
The review could have been worded a bit differently but I don’t get what the big deal is. Anyway let’s move on, this album is really great and any fan of [ insert rock genre ] will like it. Sorry if scotts words offended anyone but I’m not going to censor them this time.
Len right on.
David M.. oh wait you are not here anymore :(
What Brandon said.
hey whos excited about the new sleeping giant?! thats a great new subject
the new sleeping giant will be ballin fo sho
Wow… talk about showing up late to your own party. I’m out for an extended weekend and miss all kinds of excitement.
Kev – No. Sleep For Sleepers are not Mormons.
TylerH -Thanks for standing in for me on this. I love to read your posts, you have an amazing knack for cutting through the fluff and getting to the heart of the matter in a straight-forward and intelligent manner. I envy that. You also are obviously a student of the Word. I respect that immensely.
David – While I realize that you’re no longer reading this… I feel obligated to respond none-the-less. First, it was never my intention to ostracize Mormons. In all honesty, I would never have guessed that any Mormons would frequent this site. I know that I don’t frequent Mormon sites for a very simple reason… our views are diametrically opposed. I’m under no delusion about this fact. Would I be “offended” by Mormon sites? No… but I imagine that it would cause some righteous indignation over the false theology that is pedaled through the LDS church. I believe strongly enough in the Bible that I am convinced that the LDS church is a false religion. I won’t even get into the myriad reasons for this. Second, while I admit that my characterization was somewhat disparaging of Mormon belief, I did it in what I considered a light-hearted tone. Considering my audience (i.e. Christians) my assumption was that it would be a humorous means to segue into my need for caffeine. Don’t confuse this as backpedaling or an apology, it isn’t. Mormon theology is anti-Biblical and it’s wrong. I regret to have to stand against what you believe, Dave, but I care enough about you to tell you the truth. Not just as I see it… but as the Bible unequivocally states it. This is not just a matter of your pride or some hurt feelings… this is a matter of your eternal soul. Believe me, there is far more on the line here than a bruised ego. Any religion that detracts from the supremacy of Christ in any way, be it in regard to His deity or to His necessity to salvation by grace through faith… that religion is a false religion. And as such it must be stood against… publicly. While that wasn’t my intention in writing this review… the necessity is apparent in the fact that God has brought this issue up through this review. I don’t believe that this is by coincidence either. I believe that God is giving you an opportunity to truly consider what you have chosen to believe and is giving you a format to ask honest questions about it. I implore you to study the scriptures, the answers to all of your questions are in there. I also ask you to do one simple thing. Pray. Not prayer as usual… but to ask God one thing… ask Him to show you IF you’re wrong. And do it with sincerity. And if He shows you, accept what He shows you and embrace it as truth. God bless you, man.