Whether inhabiting the realm of dreams or nightmares, the primordial drive of Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs is more powerful than ever and ‘Land Of Sleeper’, their fifth record in a decade of rancour and revelation is testimony to this. Arguably the most potent and assured record of their storied life so far, it’s the product of a band energised and fortified by their individual passions to incendiary effect. After the travails of the two and a half years since 2020’s ‘Viscerals’, ‘Land Of Sleeper’ sees the Newcastle-based quintet not so much reinvigorated as channelling a furious drive which only appears to gather momentum as the band’s surroundings spins on their axis.

For all that the last few years have seen Pigs’ stature rise in the wake of triumphant festival slots and sold-out venues like, this remains a band fundamentally incapable of tailoring their sound to a prospective audience, rather standing alone and impervious as a monument of catharsis.“Certainly for me, writing and playing music is often surprising and revealing, it can be like holding up a mirror and seeing things you didn’t expect to see” reckons drummer Ewan Mackenzie, whose return to the Pigs fray after two albums away marked another big influence on the new record. “For me, the darker tracks on the record hold in common a determination not to lose faith, despite the odds”

The better to unite slumber and waking, ‘Land Of Sleeper’ is no less than an act of transcendence for Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs - new anthems to elucidate a world sleepwalking to oblivion.

'Land Of Sleeper come housed in eye-popping 'Callum Rooney' sleeve art with obi strip and 'Oz' style lyrics poster.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: The unstoppable Pigs x7 return for a more expansive blast of their gritty sludge-rock, swimming with groove but edging into darker climes. It's a confident and psychedelic blast from one of the greatest bunch of noise merchants in the game.

TRACK LISTING

01. Ultimate Hammer
02. Terror's Pillow
03. Big Rig
04. The Weatherman
05. Mr Medicine
06. Pipe Down!
07. Atlas Stone
08. Ball Lightning 

While Sleeper & Snake pairs up the great Al Montfort (Total Control, The UV Race, Dick Diver) and Amy Hill (Primo!, Constant Mongrel), who’ve both found themselves in league as band mates in Terry, this album isn’t quite the pop pairing that it seems on the surface. Accompanying the strums, jangles, and geniality there’s also present offbeat electronics and free jazz fizz.
Sleeper & Snake are Amy Hill and Al Montfort. As members of Terry and innumerable other vital acts from the Aus-underground, you might be expecting some strummy pop slap from this relatively new project, but Sleeper & Snake is a more subtle, intriguing and experimental endeavour. Homespun vignettes of warbled keyboards, fizzed improv interludes, shifting layers of skewed harmony and wistful yet pointed lyrical pep is their measure. The duo still lock into a mordant lo-fi mode but there’s a delicacy at play here too with cello, harmonica and even sarangi being employed in the foundation of these frothy concoctions of outsider folk and post punk hodgepodge.

Following on from last year’s ‘Junction and High’ debut, new album ‘Fresco Shed’ unfurls with the same floating free atmosphere. The record launches with an uncanny field recording before being drawn onward by the coalescing alto and tenor saxophones of ‘Miracles’. ‘Flats Falling’ is a crystalline assembly of cello, drum machine and plucky bass which freewheels around, curlicues of sax sparking off amid the duo’s matter-of fact vocal parade: “Disclaimer, disclaimer, disclaimer. The place has a curse.” Deceptively catchy and barbed with hooks, Hill & Montfort stick to their strengths with this first single from the album. Comparably buoyant, ‘Shoot Through’ also conceals inner depths in wraiths of wild melody and memory. It’s never as comfortable a listen as you first think with Sleeper & Snake.

‘Rokeby’ is more of a serenade into the wind, showcasing the duo’s love of alliterative wordplay: “wish I would wake, wake up in the wash, wish for fail, wish for friends”. ‘Reach Out’ strolls down a similar path, only pursued by bursts of Wurlitzer: “reach out for rent and riddle more, riddle with rats, keep your cards racked.” Hill and Montfort’s vocals are mirrored in unity but still retain their ability to wrong-foot expectation. For instance, ‘Lock Up The Loose’ is reminiscent of a cosmic, country ballad, only written for a children's party. The song’s jejune delivery belying lyrical concerns around the notion of incarceration.

‘Fresco Shed’ takes its title from a line in tremulous, keyboard ponderance ‘Lady Painter’, a track that spins its ‘colour wheel’ around ‘paupers in palaces’ and ‘farmers full of feeling’. An acoustic guitar and cello mark the decentred rhythm here, in contrast to the clustering synth-lines and sax breezes that tangle throughout ‘Piles’. An interplay of saxophones alone builds ‘New Togs’ heady ambience, with multiple horns weaving through each other’s reverb trail, this is dauntless, spry music, no resting on laurels allowed. ‘Declare’ closes the album with a whirl of melodies that stretch to their limits before vanishing into thin air. Like the best magic trick, it’s over in the wink of an eye and you can’t see how they got there. ‘Fresco Shed’ is transportive, ludic, humane and homemade, ruminative and resourceful. It’s an album that’s as light on its feet as it’s heavy with meaning, a total triumph of substance over style from an endlessly creative duo determined on surprising all (themselves included) with each new song.

TRACK LISTING

01. Miracles
02. Flats Falling
03. Rokeby
04. Lady Painter
05. Piles
06. Shoot Through
07. Lock Up The Loose
08. New Togs
09. Reach Out
10. Declare

"The Modern Age" is Sleeper's first album in 21 years. It wasn’t meant to happen. In fact, the band had promised each other it never would. “We had no plan to get back together. Sometimes life throws you a massive curve ball. You end up jumping off the cliff, just to see what it feels like.”, says singer, Louise Wener

The band spent summer 2018 recording The Modern Age with their long-time producer, Stephen Street - a relationship that clicked into place again right away. They tracked live at Metway studios in their adopted city of Brighton, before decamping to Street’s studio in West London to add the finishing touches. The Modern Age is the outward looking sound of a band revitalized and refreshed. Covering subjects from motherhood and social media to personal loss and, inevitably, relationships. The Modern Age retains Sleeper’s classic pop sensibilities with a shiny, new, contemporary feel.

The first single to be taken from the album is Look at You Now – released on Dec 5th and available on all digital platforms. Initially it appears to be referencing Sleeper’s comeback, but it’s a protest song at heart: a howl for the politically homeless in a landscape where reasoned debate has given way to vitriol.

Sleeper enjoyed huge critical and commercial success in the mid-90s: achieving 8 Top 40 singles across 3 Top 10 albums with well over 1,000,000 sales. Their music was characterized by astute, observational lyrics and big, hook driven melodies. Wener was an iconic front-person, heading up a movement that brought women center stage in guitar music. Sleeper split In 1998 and walked purposely away from the limelight. Wener carved out a career as a successful novelist. Drummer Andy Maclure and John Stewart - Sleeper’s guitarist - both became lecturers in music studies. Sleeper’s current line-up are joined by former Prodigy bassist Kieron Pepper.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Sleeper are back! With an appropriately titled nod to the modern age, they have brought their impeccable ear for melodies and propulsive indie thrust into the 21st century with smooth production and crisp, satisfying melodies.

TRACK LISTING

LP
A1. Paradise Waiting
A2. Look At You Now
A3. The Sun Also Rises
A4. Dig
A5. The Modern Age
B1. Cellophane
B2. Car Into The Sea
B3. Blue Like You
B4. More Than I Do
B5. Big Black Sun

CD
1. Paradise Waiting
2. Look At You Now
3. The Sun Also Rises
4. Dig
5. The Modern Age
6. Cellophane
7. Car Into The Sea
8. Blue Like You
9. More Than I Do
10. Big Black Sun

Five short years into the Ty Segall expedition and we’re farther and farther out with each and every record. Between two minds, between two places, beyond previous album ‘Twins’, ‘Sleeper’ envisions a world of haves and have-nots, but the currency that separates them is psychic.

With ‘Sleeper’, Ty Segall explores your mind, coming through his own head to slip inside with thought sharing. Ty engineered this one from beginning to end, and his ultimate sonics were accessed with a freaky hand and an instinct for what makes something perfect. ‘Sleeper’ flows more colours through your mind’s eye than ever before, pushing the walls of the universe out just a micron further, making everything heavier and lighter all at once, to allow for one moment that will live forever.

STAFF COMMENTS

Andy says: Cracked, slightly fried, acoustic psych...a glorious departure for this most prolific artist. His best yet?

TRACK LISTING

Sleeper
The Keepers
Crazy
The Man Man
She Don’t Care
Come Outside
6th Street
Sweet C.C.
Queen Lullabye
The West

Daystar’s rise over recent months has been impressive to say the least. With a sound drawing expertly from contemporary influences like The Smiths and The Stone Roses and with song craft reminiscent of legendary groups like R.E.M. and The Beach Boys, the band have rapidly developed a reputation as one of the UK’s most exciting up-and-coming indie acts.

Sleeper is the story of anyone you know with big ideas who finds it hard to realize their dreams. If you want to see what the 7" actually looks like watch the video: