Review Summary: Sleep Parade ditch the electronic influences, heading in a more indie rock direction. Whether that's a good thing remains to be seen.
Sleep Parade have been unsighted for much of the past year. Other than opening for Porcupine Tree on a few occasions, the three piece have been toiling away in the studio writing the follow up to their brilliant debut album
Things Can Always Change. The thing that stood out on their debut was how the band married their electronic and progressive influences so effectively.
Mr Identify sees the band all but ditch the electronic stuff in favour of the more ‘now’ indie sound. This could either be the band changing their style to follow the indie kids, or them just following their influences. One can only hope it is the latter.
Mr Identify is a very solid, albeit derivative collection of songs that gives a promising look towards their sophomore album. The title track and ‘Seconds Away’ see the band experiment with a few different instruments, with glockenspiels and vibraphones. Bassist Matt Delany and drummer Dan Teng hold the tracks together, giving the perfect backdrop for vocalist/guitarist Leigh Davies’ melodies. While these two tracks are quite catchy (particularly ‘Mr Identify’), the band does wear their influences on their sleeve, bringing to mind the indie rock styling of Vampire Weekend and Minus the Bear. They both are very good songs in their own right, one just hopes the band rediscovers their originality when they finish writing their follow up.
Harking back to the brilliant epics ‘Weeping Walls’ and ‘Everyday’ found on their debut, EP standout ‘Headstorm’ is a monster of a track. The off kilter drumming from Teng juxtaposes beautifully with the more ‘pretty’ guitar tones of front man Davies. ‘Headstorm’ is seemingly the track that is flagging the band’s new direction, drawing comparisons to the indie bands mentioned earlier as well as Sleep Parade’s more typical influences such as Oceansize. Davies’ vocals fit the track perfectly, showing his improvement as a vocalist since the band’s debut.
Essentially, the significant thing about this release is, not so much the songs themselves, but the change in direction it signals for the band. It is indeed a risk, as the electronic influences are what made the band stand out on their debut. Thus, sacrificing some originality for more accessible songs could prove to be detrimental to the band. If they pull it off though, more power to them.
Download the EP for free and legally here: http://sleepparade.bandcamp.com/
