Rating:
Genre:
Rock
Release Date: 05/30/2006
The band's name is strike one: nothing's more pretentious than a gerund. Its tendency towards cutesy bridges and goofy tempo changes isn't a clean strike -- call it a foul tip, for strike two. But what keeps
the Sleeping at the plate is its ability to take bits and pieces of everything from
screamo to
prog to
post-rock to
hardcore and turn them into a coherent and even compelling
pop music whole. The hooks are what make it easy to forgive the
waltz-time interlude on
"Loud & Clear," and on
"Heart Beatz," the stop-and-go rhythms actually work with the song rather than against it, building up a nice tension against the pretty, atmospheric guitar parts. Best of all is
"The Climb," a song that puts serious complexity to work in support of its tunefulness; almost as good are a glorified football
chant titled
"King of Hearts," and a chunky midtempo shouter called
"Dearest Mistake." The album ends on a puzzling note, with an attractive but egregiously overlong instrumental number that confirms the band's chops but brings up fresh doubts about its judgment. Recommended overall.
~Rick Anderson, All Music Guide
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