The Oversleep excuse

Hailing from Japan, the Oversleep Excuse seems to be a mixed band of Japanese (or maybe Japanese-Americans or something, I don’t know) and foreigners. This throws me back to when I lived in Daegu, South Korea and one of the best bands in town was a mixture of a foreign guy and some South Koreans. That band sounded a lot like Yo La Tengo, and Yo La Tengo has had so many phases it’s easy enough to pick and choose pieces that are reflected in the Oversleep Excuse, who are so precious that they make me sigh indie, yet I can’t think of a single band to compare them to.

The Yo La Tengo influence is there though, in the softer edges, in the hushed and whispered vocals (this is talking quiet YLT only), in the guitar meanderings that settle someplace for a short while, and only briefly. Sound effects creep in and out of the music, adding texture and never detracting from the melodic points. There’s harmony and there’s singular singing. There’s fun and there’s games. There’s a bit of darkness. There’s a lot of sunshine and romance. And the expected resulting bliss.

http://www.myspace.com/theoversleepexcuse - eveninthefuture

The Oversleep Excuse have been through a lot of changes on their way to making this 5-song EP, with the most obvious difference with early incarnations of the band being the loss of the Japanese singer Riho, with American Matthew Guay taking over responsibility for vocals. There's also been a shift in the band's sound from those early days, with the songs now following a richer, more traditionally indie rock structure that recalls the dreamy guitar pop of Los Angeles band The Tyde. Throughout the EP chiming steel drums and slow, calming rhythms combine to create a sensation of gentle waves lapping at the shore under the early evening sun. The lyrics are peppered with reminiscences and dreams, either reaching out for distant, unattainable things as in Picnic Hook or holding close those things that you fear losing, as in the title track. Coming out of the heart of Tokyo as it does, Holding Hands nevertheless creates a world of its own and is at once poignant, nostalgic and escapist. Ian Martin 24.Nov.08 - CLEAR AND REFRESHING

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