The Big Sleep have emerged from their four-year recording hibernation with new album and local shows (photo by Andy Ryan)
Mercury Lounge
217 East Houston St.
Friday, December 2, $12, 11:00
www.mercuryloungenyc.com
www.thebigsleep.net
Little did we know that when we raved about the Big Sleep’s just-released Sleep Forever CD back in February 2008 that they would take their name and album title so seriously, going into a four-year recording hibernation. At last, Brooklyn-based bassist Sonya Balchandani and guitarist Danny Barria have reemerged, going back to their roots of playing acoustic guitar and keyboards in their living room as they prepare to tour behind their first album in four years, Nature Experiments (Frenchkiss, January 31, 2012). On their website, Balchandani explains, “We took a little break, worked on stuff separately and just lived our lives,” while Barria adds, “It obviously took longer than we thought it would, but I wasn’t feeling rushed or pressured. I just wanted to write good songs.” With GarageBand replacing live drums, Nature Experiments features ten tracks, including “Valentine,” “Ghosts in Bodies,” “Wood on the Water,” and “Meet Your Maker”; you can download the song “Ace” by liking their Facebook page. The Big Sleep played Brooklyn Bowl last week and head into Manhattan on December 2 for an 11:00 gig at Mercury Lounge, preceded by DIVE at 10:00 and followed by Gauntlet Hair at 12 midnight. After we saw them at Celebrate Brooklyn back in the summer of 2007, we wrote, “The trio puts out a loud, thrilling sound, with guitar screeching over deep, darkly disguised melodies. Though primarily playing instrumentals, occasionally Sonya or Danny will sing, but their strength lies in their propulsive power; it’s a shock that it’s only three people making this beautiful noise. Live, Danny turns into a whirling dervish, twisting around and covering his face with his long hair as he tears apart his six-string.” We can’t wait to see what they’ve got going on at Mercury, where they’ll be previewing songs from the new record.