May 27, 2012

This review originally ran in AP 283.

Although Brooklyn’s the Big Sleep are down to the core duo of bassist/vocalist Sonya Balchandani and guitarist/vocalist Danny Barria, their post-shoegaze noise-rock hasn’t lost an ounce of power. On their third album, Nature Experiments, shorter song lengths go a long way to maximizing impact; frenzied drums and elephant-stomp guitars propel “#1,” while “Ladders” sounds like Metric doing Sonic Youth karaoke. But Balchandani’s increased vocal confidence is Nature Experiments’ secret weapon: She’s a bewitching siren on the hypnotic psych-rock sprawl “Wood On The Water” and organ-burned distortion cyclone “Red Carpets” and a snarling cougar on the post-rock wind tunnel “Four Wishes.” The Big Sleep aren’t reinventing the wheel—and the more monotonous parts of the album fade into the background—but their use of dynamics and technical prowess makes Nature Experiments a success.