The bullshit about guitar music being dead is getting pretty tiring. While it may have ceased to be a mainstream concern (and no wonder; I look back on the days of so-called ‘landfill indie’ and tremble fitfully), it is still very much alive. In fact, it is in rude health. One just needs to know where to look for it. This is all a very roundabout way of saying that The Big Sleep’s [Twitter/Facebook] new album is excellent. It would seem that the band themselves are a touch too modest for their own good, however: the album has ‘experiments’ in the title, and even though there are songs called #1 and Ace to kick off the album, the former finds Danny Barria downplaying the band’s strengths over a pounding bass drum and a single guitar chord: ‘We tried to work it out… We tried and we failed’. Immediately after that line, the song roars into life with the entry of drums and soaring riffs, transforming the song into one of the hardest-hitting album openers of the year so far.

Don’t let the New York three-piece tell you otherwise: they definitely know what they’re doing. Ace makes great use of contrasting dynamics, with a restrained verse and sultry vocals from Sonya Balchandani contrasted with a full-power chorus. They know their way around some great hooks, as well; on an album full of immediate songs, perhaps the one which has the most effect is Valentine. Opening with thudding drums and jittery synth-bass, the song builds into an electro-pop delight, Barria’s powerful baritone contrasting wonderfully with Balchandani’s ethereal vocal delivery before things one again move up a gear for the chorus. In case you haven’t noticed yet, the trio know exactly when to deliver the goods.

Just when it seems like Balchandani could use a little more time in the spotlight, she gets a song all to herself, and Ghosts in Bodies is made all the better for it. A slow-bulding song such as that seems to suit her style perfectly, and then when things get loud around two-and-a-half minutes in, her crooning adds yet another layer to the mix, floating over crashing drums and crunching guitars for a while before everything fades away and the song draws to a feedback-drenched close. At this point, respite seems welcome, and the dreamy Wood on the Water does the job very well indeed.

There are times during Nature Experiments that the band sound slightly reminiscent of Blood Red Shoes; Ladders sounds like it could slot in on In Time to Voices without the listener so much as batting an eyelid; Balchandani sounds more than a little like Laura-Mary Carter at times, but this is no bad thing. For the most part, The Big Sleep are well able to form their own identity and wrong-foot expectations: Four Wishes starts off with a Bloc Party-esque riff, before settling into mid-tempo territory and making use of a juggernaut-like riff every now and then, piling on blasts of heavy rock when it is least expected.

The closer 1001, meanwhile, is built around a swelling organ part, augmented only by bass and a tremulous guitar part. Balchandani’s vocals are once again pitch-perfect as she brings the album to a close in impressive fashion. Far from the haphazard nature of its title, The Big Sleep’s third album is never anything less than completely focused.

Valentine

http://soundcloud.com/toastpress/the-big-sleep-valentine

Nature Experiments is released on Frenchkiss Records next week.