At first blush, Sleeper Set Sail might seem like standard issue emo-core, an earnest and crunchily loud guitar quartet; but a few more diligent spins reveal not only Sleeper’s subtleties, but their knack for songwriting and arrangement. The Ontario band swings effortlessly between electric mayhem and acoustic beauty; in fact their debut full-length, Eyes Just Like Forest Fires, is bookended just that way, opening with the emo anthemics of “Lifejacket� and closing with the quiet grace of “All My Reason.� There is some semblance of an emotional thread that runs through the album, and while the quasi-conceptual work doesn’t exactly tell a cohesive story, Eyes does seem to conform to a rough story arc. Musically, Sleeper pounds out an emo/metal/pop/prog blend that is contemporary and fresh while drawing on elements that could conceivably be traced back to Rush and King Crimson. Sleeper Set Sail avoids the standard emo tag with a distinctive streak of diversity and the confidence to infuse their loudest and softest songs with an equal atmospheric intensity.
(Date of release: February 21, 2006)
