[sleepy sun]

[sleepy sun]

            Once every few years, there is a band that comes into the mainstream spotlight and completely changes the way we see a certain genre of music. Sleepy Sun is not that band.

They do however, live up to many of the varied criteria we ask for in a true heart and soul rock group. This six man group from San Francisco has one of the rare abilities to take us from sounds reminiscent of Hendrix to Jefferson Airplane to something African, all in the confines of a single track.

But it does not stop there. Acid-trip songs like Desert God and Wild Machines remind us of a revamped version Zeppelin’s Heartbreaker. Easy wa-wa peddle ridden tracks like Sandstorm Woman make any rock fan yearn to be sitting at the live concert, feeling the vibration in their chest from the bass.

The musical review website explodinginsound.com referenced the American music and entertainment publication Filter Magazine, saying “One of the band’s strongest features lies in the emotional vaporous vocal of vocalist Bret Constantino and the sweet and soulful voice of Rachel William whom complimented the overall sound of Sleepy Sun” (Exploding).

But this varied and remarkable band does not abandon after the concert is over. Other sounds like those on the piano-lined track Lord promise us that they will stay with us, even after the haze is gone.

Bands like this are what give some people headaches. But for some, they are the only things that can make the pain go away. Songs that rock us like Peter Frampton, but soothe us like Elton John, are all we need ask for a band in this day and age.       

Virtually everything has been done- every sound, every chord, and every twisted lyric. There is truly nothing new under the sun. But we find the fulfillment of nearly everything we have learned to love in Sleepy Sun, and we hope to hear much more from them in the future.