The Sleepers, Rolling Stones, MC5, New York Dolls, Skynyrd, Jack Daniels, The Faces, the Black Crowes, AC/DC, Supersuckers, Budweiser, The Clash, Guns N' Roses, The Beatles, The Stooges, DGeneration, Dead Boys, Replacements, Hellacopters, Social Distortion, Bob Dylan
OUR MAN IN CHICAGO
I was pretty sure I was going to like Comeback Special from Chicago band The Sleepers before I even cracked open the CD.
The cover has a vaguely bootlegged look to it like The Who's Live At Leeds. Prominently displayed on the cover is the band's logo, faux-rubber-stamped over a phonograph. Not a distinguished old-timey one that might have a dog peering into it, but one of those 70s down-market deals that proves that albums only sound better than CDs when you have 10K worth of stereo equipment behind them.
The back of the CD insert apes the look of a taped-up set list next to a picture of the band. The bassist is the most flamboyantly dressed of the five, while the lead singer is outfitted in what appears to be a sweater vest, button-down and corduroys. This makes so little sense that it must be true.
The easiest, laziest criticism against what The Sleepers are doing is that there's nothing particularly ground-breaking going on here, though you could level the same critique at The Detroit Cobras, The Bellrays or The Goldstars, three bands who - like The Sleepers - take all the pieces necessary for a rock-and-roll, barroom-stomp style and put it together in such a way that it doesn't sound like a retread.
Comeback Special is the band's 2nd full-length after Push It Nationwide. The songs are full of crunchy guitar riffs crackling over bottom-heavy grooves as the lyrics repeatedly invoke the Holy Troika of Rock Problems (women - of legal age and otherwise - booze, and cigarettes). 70s rock shibboleths are offered from the MC5-style guitar lines to the Freddie Mercury-esque shouts of "Yeah!" ..ed" and "Jailbait," to the direct line that can be drawn from Cheap Trick's "Southern Girls" to The Sleepers' "Filthy Ways." These are bombastic, anthemic songs that revel in weekend-warrior vice.
The Sleepers manage to transcend their influences precisely because of all these winking nods at what came before. It's the difference between a band that knows what it's doing when it plays a certain way and a band that plays a certain way because it doesn't know any better.
Comeback Special works because The Sleepers studied hard in rock school, then pissed off their professors because they turned out to be a little smarter.
The Sleepers' Comeback Special is out now. Tracks from their album are available via its MySpace page. Their CD release party is March 8th at Double Door. Opening will be The Regrets, The Cocksmiths, and Whiskey Blonde, which sounds about right, actually.
* My own personal barometer for this decision-making - hinted at here - is worth expounding on, but not here. Buy me a beer in a bar sometime though...
il POPOLO DEL BLUES (Italy)
Same ol' R'n'R Boogie…
Roccioso quintetto di Philadelphia con all'attivo un album uscito nel 2005 e prodotto da Jim Diamond, The Sleepers tornano all'attacco con un disco che già dal titolo pare una minaccia: ‘Comeback Special'. La title track è irresistibile: una miscela di AC/DC e Foghat con la voce acuta di Tommy Richied a scandire il ritornello.
Boogie R'n'R energetico, tanto coinvolgente quanto elementare e un po' scolastico, questa è la formula della band. Niente di male in questo, il gruppo punta sull'impatto che dal vivo deve essere davvero notevole: ‘Filthy Ways' già su CD non lascia dubbi in proposito e potrebbe anche funzionare come singolo .
The Sleepers vogliono suonare e vedere il pubblico scuotere la testa con una birra in mano mentre l'altra - mano s'intende - si muove nell'aria al ritmo di ‘Jailbait' (che ricorda molto i Poison senza I lustrini per fortuna) e ‘Dirty Cop'.
Di più non desiderano e francamente, non offrono.
-Jacopo Meille
DAILY HERALD
Forget the band name, it's not likely you'll nod off listening to this new set of tunes by this ace power pop quintet. The Sleepers carry on the vaulted Midwest tradition set in stone by Cheap Trick and Material Issue -- loud, proud, guitar-driven pop. Unlike their predecessors, this band has loads more swagger, thanks to the dueling twin guitars, readying each song with chunky riffs, go-for-glory soloing and gang vocals. While some bands capitalize on the classic formula and push it forward, The Sleepers sound best reveling in its strengths. The music reaches wild heights thanks to Tommy Richied, a vocalist who could give Robin Zander a run for his money.
Even though the band seems stuck for song fodder -- if you discount jailbait, crooked police, bad girlfriends -- they save their best love letter for Detroit, the garage rock capital that made grime beautiful. "Detroit gonna save my soul," the band chants in unison. Sounds sweet.
SLEAZEGRINDER (USA)
If I was drinkin', I'd be in a borrowed car, right now, blasting the Sleepers, and drinkin' a case of Pabst, on my way to Detroit City. I almost didn't play this, cos the picture of 'em on the back, in the prep-school uniforms, sittin' side by side, on the floor, like Libertine, made 'em look like more poseur emo-pussies, being coached into makin' a rock'n'roll record, by some older, wiley, Colonel Tom impresario. It's still hard for me to take their singer, Tommy Richied, seriously, as some kinda rock'n'roll badass. Looks more like a Plain White T-Shirt kid, to me! The guitarist writes all the lyrics, but his singer's voice does grow on you, about halfway through the disc-you just gotta get used to his vocals, but you had to get used to Pat Todd's, and Taime Downe's voices, too. David Roach, anyone?
Anybody remember the Pontiac Brothers? THE SLEEPERS play white-hot bar-room trash, in the tradition of the Joneses, Favors, Junkyard, Nazareth, Cranford Nix Jr., and Georgia Sattelites. If you're mad the Vice Principals never made that second album, you might as well get this. The guitarist/songwriter dude, KEVIN BANNON, obviously, has a bright future ahead of him, playing snarly country-punk in shitty dives, and bowling alleys, for next to no money. By the time track ten came on, even the greenish kid-singer's won me over, really. Tommy Richied. Somebody burn that kids sweater, fast. This is pretty close to what I was hoping Sioux City Pete's new band, The Beggars, were gonna sound like: Low-rent Diamond Dogs. I like it alot. "Fix Your Stereo" and "Crime Of The Century Blues" were both real high-lights for me. I can really relate to several of their songs. "One more afternoon, writin' sad love songs..." Good, solid stuff, give 'em a chance. I wish I had a band this tight. I, personally, can endorse this music, and as you well know, I hate pretty much everybody.
FOR JOHNNY ACTION!!!!!!! and the rest of you guys to.....you wanna knw what else Abraham Lincoln did besides getting shot in the back of the head?.......... he was a champion wrestler in high school. Lincoln also needed a good reason to start the war with south. so you knw what he did, he hired some ninjas to come up in there with there samari swords and there throwing stars and magic to bust the liberty bell, BAM, civil war. where in it thick, brother against brother.and im not making this up
you really need to do a west coast tour. there's a great place in Portland Or called Dante's that you would be perfect for. either that or Berbati's...at least Seattle...please please
Hi I am going to be in your area soon.Im writing a new book about the people that I meet on the road..Lets throw a small party together.If you want to hang out,message me here at my other myspace site www.myspace.com/toohotforfizzle We dont read the messages at the circus site because there are so many. thanks jim
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