Labels: Toxic Pop
Review by: Andy Malcolm
Seems like bloody ages since that last Sleepwall seven came out, hope it’s not too long until they deliver even more. For these are two fine tracks of bustling indie rock. “Tennessee Sun” kicks things off in an utterly Dinosaur Jr fashion. The vocals are lazy and far from the fore front, whilst pleasing guitar noodles and insistent rhythm section propel this song onwards. It’s certainly not far removed at all from any of the poppier efforts on Beyond, and as such it is the kind of thing that makes me smile and nod along. However, standout song for me on this sweet split is the stunning “Change Your Ways”, which now that I have listened to more is starting to sound like the Hated to me. The intro gently twinkles in, the bass strums and then the drums pick up the pace. This track is pretty different, it is grungier, in the Hum sense of the sound at least, and the vocals are rather droned. It builds up for the first half before breaking down in a pretty fashion in the middle and exploding into the noisier remainder, through a momentary Mascis-esque guitar solo and the repeated guitar parts from earlier on. This is definitely one of my favourite songs of 2009. Fine job!