Elastic Sleep - Leave You EP (Big Tea Records/FIFA Records)
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| Elastic Sleep - Leave You EP |
Release Date: 28th April 2014
Cork seems to be pumping out a
steady flow of quality acts at the moment and Elastic Sleep are certainly at
the helm of that movement. The five piece are purveyors of fine dreampop and
they don't waste any time getting down to business on this EP with recent
single 'Leave You' telling you exactly what they're all about with airy lyrics
and a sense of space that is so inviting you just want to dive in. Oddly,
however, 'I Found Love' follows up with one of the most sinister bass lines I
have heard in a very long time and a brooding vocal that makes you want to back
up slowly towards the door only to find that it has locked behind you. There
are some eerie sounds at the beginning of 'Deep & Blue' that I don't know
whether to trust after the first two tracks but when those ethereal vocals seep
in again you are instantly transported somewhere cold and stark. This music is
cinematic stuff and if I didn't know that Elastic Sleep hailed from Ireland
then I would have put money on them having Scandinavian roots. I blame the
Vikings.
'Tzar Bomba (No More Tears)' is a
more straight down the line indie-rock number that stomps, thrashes and kicks
out in a tantrum with squally, distorted guitars and big, booming drums. I have
to say, for a band that explores the sinister side of life, I wasn't expecting
a song called 'Splish' to turn up but it's as ominous as children in a horror
movie singing nursery rhymes as the guitars strum lazily and the beat lumbers
lifelessly under the wispy vocals. 'Stay' brings things to a close with some
acoustic strumming and a bit of whistling which is the perfect 'relief' ending
for an EP that feels, at times, like you're watching a horror-cum-thriller on
your own late at night. This is an EP of ambitious proportions and I would urge
any film-makers out there to get in touch with these guys soon to work on a
collaboration. Something bleak, preferably.
More information: https://www.facebook.com/elasticsleepband?fref=ts
Live Dates:
17th April - The Pavilion, Rochestown
4th May - Triskel Arts Centre, Cork w/Fears
10th May - Pine Lodge, Myrtleville
14th May - Workmans Club, Dublin w/the Octopus Project + Ambience