REVIEW: Sleep City – Distance & Age (2013)
Sleep City
Distance & Age
Tragic Hero Records
I really have had my faith restored in the music scene lately. Honestly, for a while there, it seemed like the diversity of music had faded and we were all hearing just the same noise with a different name and genre tagged on it. Nonetheless, more and more bands are popping up and showing the world that they really are different deserve some recognition; one of these being Sleep City. Now, of course, Sleep City didn’t just pop up recently, but this is their first full-length and their first record label release. This is sort of a big thing I’d say because it honestly shows that labels are looking out for more than the status norm these days.
Now instead of just continuing to tip-toe around this I’ll just say it straightforward: Sleep City’s Distance & Age is proof that music is progressing, this being a progressive band of course. Their current sound that they decided to go in the direction of this time around is sort of a mixture of rock, progressive, post-hardcore and just a bit of punk. The record takes some good twists and turns and really does take all of those sounds to give them the perfect home. Each song does in fact have its own feel and its own sound, and though I have said this in past reviews and gone on to mention that at times the songs do still sort of mold together similarly, the songs in this release really do stand on their own; some surprisingly. For example, the track WornDown sounds a lot like the soft side of Senses Fail, which is a very rare thing to hear these days, but it goes into the soothing Four Walls, which is a beautiful acoustic piece; and then we have these rocky post-hardcore tracks like So Close and Nothing to Lose. This is a very fun and emotional album that really does take its different turns and, honestly, isn’t afraid of different sounds. There’s a good amount of acoustic songs to be found, quality rock and post-hardcore tracks, and even an indie-pop-ish sort of song titled Four Seasons Love. Sleep City aren’t afraid to take a chance and put songs on an album that not everybody is going to enjoy exactly, but it’s a chance that works and I admire that.
Honestly, I could see Sleep City as a band that achieves mainstream status. Not mainstream in the sense that they’re going to change and just sound like every other rock or pop band out there nowadays, but mainstream as in they’ll hit chart-tops, have advertisements on the television, play the huge shows full of insane and screaming fans – and why? Because they have a sound that can be enjoyed by everyone, simply because of its diversity and its honesty. This is an honest album full of great sound and admirable changes. This isn’t the sound that Sleep City has always had, but it is a great direction for these boys to go in and it works perfectly for them. Distance & Age would get my seal of approval if I had one.