The Sleepers

They say rock ‘n’ roll is on its way back. The Sleepers surely agree. The Chicago band’s full-length debut, Push It Nationwide, is a 10-song reflection of times past when anthemic choruses, extended guitar solos, and a boozy swagger defined rock, not pretty faces, sharp suits, and well-styled hair.

The numerous comparisons to The Rolling Stones scattered among The Sleepers’ press clippings are questionable at this point in their career, but the band’s songs do have a certain nasty flair that evoke garage dwellers like MC5 and The Stooges as well as arena giants like KISS and Aerosmith. Kingpin Detroit producer/engineer Jim Diamond (The White Stripes, Electric Six) produced Push It, and the album maintains the same gritty, no-frills approach as his other projects..

- Trevor Fisher/Stage Buzz

It’s ironic that just last week I was talking about being a rock and roll gearhead when the first thing I noticed on the back cover of “Push It Nationwide” by The Sleepers is a photo of a bunch of amps in the studio and what looks suspiciously like a Vox “Super Beatle” amp amongst the stacks. This was the amp that Vox provided the band for their infamous (and last) 1966 world tour and it immediately caught my attention with one of those “these guys look interesting” moments when I was shuffling through a bunch of CDs that I had recently received.

First off, these guys do not sound like the Beatles. Nowhere close. What these guys offer is pure, hook filled raunchy rock and roll that caught me from “Jet Set Trash” and didn’t let go until “Lonely.” They lock into such a great rock and roll groove that you are constantly hitting repeat because you can’t seem to get enough on the first listen. For me a good sign as to whether I like an album is when I am having a hard time trying to figure out which song to play on Rock and Roll Report Radio. Should it be “Don’t Let Me In”, “ Bad For Me”, “Lost Cowboy” or “Jacknife Judy”? Decisions, decisions…..

This Chicago band really lay out the kind of rock and roll that I like to blare full blast out the windows and onto the street. Plus they prominently feature that most rock and roll of instruments, the cowbell! Great stuff. A keeper and for sure it will be a CD I’ll be playing often both on the air and on my iPod. - ROCK AND ROLL REPORT

The Sleepers -- Comeback Special (Pravda)

"Loaded". "Filthy Ways". "Jailbait". "Dirty Cop". These are the titles of four consecutive songs on the new album from this Chicago band. They should give you a pretty good idea where The Sleepers are coming from.

As cool as it would be if the songs behind these titles were arcane twee pop a la Sufjan Stevens and Belle And Sebastian, it’s even cooler that The Sleepers play the type of sleazy, blues based rock and roll that is never out of style, even when it’s not in style. The Sleepers come from the land of the New York Dolls, Guns ‘n’ Roses, Dogs D’Amour, Alice Cooper and every band that has a little early Rolling Stones and Pretty Things in its D.N.A.

Lead singer Tommy Richied almost blows it with the CD booklet photo, as the sweater clad smiling dude doesn’t match the weather beaten, attitude laden voice. A sweater? Isn’t that Vampire Weekend’s thing? But then I remember that a lot of great rockers donned sweaters (Exhibit A -- Gerry Rosalie of the The Sonics), and all is forgiven.

The band has an inexhaustible supply of rocking guitar riffs, like the one that fuels the careening "Detroit Ride". Drummer Johnny Action lives up to his name, keeping the song moving, as Richied sings out the mantra, "Detroit’s gonna save my soul," with the requisite conviction. Things are a bit greasier on "Filthy Ways", which has the gusto of prime Jason and the Scorchers, with the twang removed.

It’s not all slam and bam, no siree. The title track is a mid-tempo rocker in the tradition of songs like The Angels’ (a/k/a Angel City) "Marseilles" and a number of Aerosmith tunes, mixing hard riffs with a great melodic chorus. There are also some clever lyrics: "I’m sorry people/no autographs please/you know I’m huge with the Japanese." It’s a fun look on has been rockers trying to keep it going.

The best of the bunch is the rocket fueled "Abby Stone". This is just more accelerated blues rock, with a simple and effective chorus. What more do you need?

The biggest knock on this album is that there’s not loads of variety here, and so a few of the songs jumble together. But that never stopped AC/DC, did it?

Posted by Mike Bennett at 2:05 PM

- HABLO ENNUI (Blog)

Ever since I first heard Push It Nationwide by The Sleepers I have been a fan. As soon as I opened that CD and saw the pictures of guitars and amps set up in the studio I knew these guys from Chicago got it. Nice, sleazy rock and roll about lost loves, drinking away your troubles, smoking cigarettes and rocking out with attitude is what these guys are all about and things have only gotten better with their latest release Comeback Special.

With songs like Loaded, Filthy Ways, She Is My Drinking Problem and Jailbait you know where these boys are coming from and it ain’t pretty but man does it make for great listening. Tommy Richied has that great sneering vocal sound that melds perfectly with the dirty, Stonesy guitar sound that they pump out. Once again I have a hard time picking favourites from the 12 tracks as they all resonate with me so I tend to listen to the whole CD from start to finish which is not always the case with a lot of CDs out there but is the way it should be. Raw, dirty, sarcastic and yet always with a hook, Comeback Special is meant to be played loud any time of the day or night and preferably in the company of friends. First rate rock and roll for those who understand what it is all about. Highly recommended.

Check them out on MySpace at http://www.myspace.com/thesleepersband or at www.sleepersonline.com

Mark - ROCK AND ROLL REPORT

LOWCUT MAGAZINE

The Sleepers - Comeback Special
Written by Tomsen

This is the second full-length album from Chicago's The Sleepers and it's out on Pravda Records. This isn't ground-breaking music, it's simple r'n'r with strong references to AC/DC, american hard-rock acts like Black Crowes and some New York proto-punk ´70's style. Take a song like "Jailbait" and it's pure AC/DC riffing with a chorus like The Dolls. But unlike AC/DC the guitar sound is sloppy and garage like, which gives The Sleepers a leaned back and cool drive. There's a lot of crunchy guitar riffs and twin guitar solos and vocalist Tommy Richied does his best to sound like a real dirty problem child. This kind of rock 'n' roll will for sure work great in the US. It's the soundtrack for cruising around in a boogie van and picking up dirty girls.

Best thing about The Sleepers is the photo on the backside of the CD. This shows five normal guys smiling and looking like former college boys. No stupid r'n'r attitudes, no tattoos or sunglasses and only one guy with long hair - and this makes this band more true than so many standard r'n'r bands around - cool!


http://www.myspace.com/thesleepersband
If you dig: AC/DC, Stooges, Gaza Strippers




- Lowcut Magazine

SLEAZEGRINDER (USA)

If I was drinkin', I'd be in a borrowed car, right now, blasting the Sleepers, and drinkin' a case of Pabst, on my way to Detroit City. I almost didn't play this, cos the picture of 'em on the back, in the prep-school uniforms, sittin' side by side, on the floor, like Libertine, made 'em look like more poseur emo-pussies, being coached into makin' a rock'n'roll record, by some older, wiley, Colonel Tom impresario. It's still hard for me to take their singer, Tommy Richied, seriously, as some kinda rock'n'roll badass. Looks more like a Plain White T-Shirt kid, to me! The guitarist writes all the lyrics, but his singer's voice does grow on you, about halfway through the disc-you just gotta get used to his vocals, but you had to get used to Pat Todd's, and Taime Downe's voices, too. David Roach, anyone?

Anybody remember the Pontiac Brothers? THE SLEEPERS play white-hot bar-room trash, in the tradition of the Joneses, Favors, Junkyard, Nazareth, Cranford Nix Jr., and Georgia Sattelites. If you're mad the Vice Principals never made that second album, you might as well get this. The guitarist/songwriter dude, KEVIN BANNON, obviously, has a bright future ahead of him, playing snarly country-punk in shitty dives, and bowling alleys, for next to no money. By the time track ten came on, even the greenish kid-singer's won me over, really. Tommy Richied. Somebody burn that kids sweater, fast. This is pretty close to what I was hoping Sioux City Pete's new band, The Beggars, were gonna sound like: Low-rent Diamond Dogs. I like it alot. "Fix Your Stereo" and "Crime Of The Century Blues" were both real high-lights for me. I can really relate to several of their songs. "One more afternoon, writin' sad love songs..." Good, solid stuff, give 'em a chance. I wish I had a band this tight. I, personally, can endorse this music, and as you well know, I hate pretty much everybody.

-PEPSI SHEEN


- Sleazegrinder

I was pretty sure I was going to like Comeback Special from Chicago band The Sleepers before I even cracked open the CD. *

The cover has a vaguely bootlegged look to it like The Who's Live At Leeds. Prominently displayed on the cover is the band's logo, faux-rubber-stamped over a phonograph. Not a distinguished old-timey one that might have a dog peering into it, but one of those 70s down-market deals that proves that albums only sound better than CDs when you have 10K worth of stereo equipment behind them.

The back of the CD insert apes the look of a taped-up set list next to a picture of the band. The bassist is the most flamboyantly dressed of the five, while the lead singer is outfitted in what appears to be a sweater vest, button-down and corduroys. This makes so little sense that it must be true.

The easiest, laziest criticism against what The Sleepers are doing is that there's nothing particularly ground-breaking going on here, though you could level the same critique at The Detroit Cobras, The Bellrays or The Goldstars, three bands who - like The Sleepers - take all the pieces necessary for a rock-and-roll, barroom-stomp style and put it together in such a way that it doesn't sound like a retread.

Comeback Special is the band's 2nd full-length after Push It Nationwide. The songs are full of crunchy guitar riffs crackling over bottom-heavy grooves as the lyrics repeatedly invoke the Holy Troika of Rock Problems (women - of legal age and otherwise - booze, and cigarettes). 70s rock shibboleths are offered from the MC5-style guitar lines to the Freddie Mercury-esque shouts of "Yeah!" on "Loaded" and "Jailbait," to the direct line that can be drawn from Cheap Trick's "Southern Girls" to The Sleepers' "Filthy Ways." These are bombastic, anthemic songs that revel in weekend-warrior vice.

The Sleepers manage to transcend their influences precisely because of all these winking nods at what came before. It's the difference between a band that knows what it's doing when it plays a certain way and a band that plays a certain way because it doesn't know any better.

Comeback Special works because The Sleepers studied hard in rock school, then pissed off their professors because they turned out to be a little smarter.

The Sleepers' Comeback Special is out now. Tracks from their album are available via its MySpace page. Their CD release party is March 8th at Double Door. Opening will be The Regrets, The Cocksmiths, and Whiskey Blonde, which sounds about right, actually.

* My own personal barometer for this decision-making - hinted at here - is worth expounding on, but not here. Buy me a beer in a bar sometime though...

- OUR MAN IN CHICAGO

Forget the band name, it's not likely you'll nod off listening to this new set of tunes by this ace power pop quintet. The Sleepers carry on the vaulted Midwest tradition set in stone by Cheap Trick and Material Issue -- loud, proud, guitar-driven pop. Unlike their predecessors, this band has loads more swagger, thanks to the dueling twin guitars, readying each song with chunky riffs, go-for-glory soloing and gang vocals. While some bands capitalize on the classic formula and push it forward, The Sleepers sound best reveling in its strengths. The music reaches wild heights thanks to Tommy Richied, a vocalist who could give Robin Zander a run for his money.

Even though the band seems stuck for song fodder -- if you discount jailbait, crooked police, bad girlfriends -- they save their best love letter for Detroit, the garage rock capital that made grime beautiful. "Detroit gonna save my soul," the band chants in unison. Sounds sweet. - DAILY HERALD

Don't Sleep On It

There's no way around it, and it has to be said, but The Sleepers gleefully worship at the altar of Angus Young. Three to four chord riffs, 4/4 drums, and whiskey frayed vocals power this combo, smelling of graffiti, subterranean dressing rooms, and day old kegs. You can almost feel the sweat causing you outgrown bangs to stick to your cheeks.

The group recently released Comeback Special, full of tunes about chasing jailbait, drinking booze, and of course, having a kick-ass rock and roll time of it all. And right when you think it can't get any wilder, they break out the honky tonk piano on the anthem "She Is My Drinking Problem
- Chicagoist