Boards
Sleepercurve
Sleepercurve are a band with depth. If you're after the musical equivalent of a one-night stand, then you'd better look elsewhere, because this new London-based trio's music demands your full commitment. They're certainly not interested in joining the masses of garage-rock bands currently soundtracking the nation's Saturday night pints and fights.
"I recently read an interview with The View, where they said that there's no need to use more than four chords in a song - and I think that's ridiculous", explains singer/guitarist Dan Walsh. "Just because a band comes from a working-class background, it doesn't mean that they shouldn't be musically adventurous, or that they have to sing about the trivialities of everyday life. There’s more to life than what people get up to at the weekend!”. "The Manic Street Preachers are a working-class band,” adds bassist/keyboard player Mark Dixon, "but they never sang about going down the pub and getting pissed. They embraced intelligence and ambition, and ultimately became one of the best bands of the 90s. We like to think we’re attempting something similar with Sleepercurve.”
The band jokingly describe their music as 'medieval space rock', taking influences that range from contemporary bands like Interpol, Elbow and Biffy Clyro to classic pop and alt-rock giants such as Depeche Mode, Soundgarden and the Smashing Pumpkins. The end result is a sound that is dark, expansive and often abrasive – yet also surprisingly accessible, with songs like ‘Noughts & Crosses’ and ‘Darwin’s Heroes’ clearly geared as much towards moving your feet as engaging your brain.
Rightfully suspicious of bands that attempt to justify the rushed, ramshackle quality of their recordings as a sign of quasi-punk ‘authenticity’, Sleepercurve are not afraid to take their time over the creative process. These guys are arguably perfectionists – not in a po-faced, egotistical sense, but more due to a genuine love for and belief in what they do.
“We’re all very disciplined with each other,” adds Dan. “About stuff like getting to rehearsals on time; we’re not the kind of band who’d be up all night snorting coke with Kate Moss. We don’t want to be part of that scene – or any other current scene, for that matter!” Being a 24-hour party animal is all very well, but if you were making music as good as Sleepercurve, you too would be forgiven for spending more time in the studio than in the gossip pages of The Sun. Watch out for these guys in 2007.