((The Big Sleep)) Band Profile and Upcoming New York City Concerts - Oh My Rockness

Finally, a new NYC band that isn't pretending to care what a young NYC band should supposedly sound like. These guys aren't retro (if anything, they are future-o), don't employ Wire-like guitars, and don't do the Hell yelp or Curtis croon. The Big Sleep are a trio that plays driving psych-rock that sounds similar to the forever-underrated Turing Machine, or Trans Am back when they were good.

This band is extremely tight on the rhythms, creating walls of stunning guitar sound backed by precise percussion. Their songs definitely get a groove going, and you can almost hear each member's pure delight at how well they can rock it with each other. But their jams never cross that common threshold into ostentatious grandstanding. The Big Sleep know less is more, and 4-5 minutes is all they need to completely hook us and reel us right in.

Published April 23, 2009