#ICYMI: Sleeping Lessons, Spirit Award, and P.S. @ Barboza
Seattle band Sleeping Lessons will release their highly-anticipated debut LP Red Sprites on October 14 at Chop Suey as part of DJ Marco Collins’ Slumber Party (also ft. Chris Cheveyo, Soft Sleep, and Dreamcatchr.) In anticipation of the show, here’s Gary’s recap of a Sleeping Lessons live show this summer at Barboza. – Ed
Sleeping Lessons // Spirit Award // P.S.
Live @ Barboza, Seattle
July 28, 2016
By Gary Horn
Like most music scenes across the country, Seattle’s seems to be incestuous, either out of necessity (rent) or discretion (friendship). The July 28 show at Barboza was the latter: if you’ve ever seen Half Kingdom, Hibou, Perfect Families, Pomegranates, The Echo Echo Echoes, or Uh Oh Eskimo then Barboza’s stage would have offered a host of familiar faces.
First up was P.S., a Seattle based indie-rock band fronted by Dustin Carroll with Tyler Geyer on guitar and Keturah Weathers on synth/keys (with two supporting in the wings for this show). They dealt out a series of flowing and vibrant songs with clean guitar and a smooth, rolling drum line. Carroll sang with the cadence of Robert Smith and baritone of Ben Gibbard, sans depression. In fact, the one main takeaway from this band’s set was optimism. If you’re having a bad day, spin these guys up and you’ll feel better in no time.
Spirit Award features Daniel Lyon on guitar and vocals, Chris Moore on bass, and Terence Ankeny on Drums. There was a heavy dependence on vocal echo and hypnotizing bass lines during the set, but Lyon’s singing was confident and honest. The energy level in the room increased as they played haunting, up-tempo numbers that seemed to make the audience curious and uneasy at the same time.
Sleeping Lessons closed the night with a 30-minute set of dream pop. Pals Charlie Deane (vocals/guitar), Dan Moretti (drums), Paul Kowalczyk (guitar), and Terence Bonsey (bass) were celebrating the release of their new single, “Big Stars” (audio below). Deane interjected personal notes of thankfulness and warm wishes between songs that were consistently light and ethereal, melodic and decaffeinated. Connection and sincerity are themes with this band. If that’s your kind of thing, catch them this October 14 for their album release show at Chop Suey with Draemhouse, Soft Sleep and Dreamcatchr (all “sleepy” bandnames, get it?).
Although crowd movement was undetectable throughout the night, most seemed to enjoy the show and left with smiles on their faces. My only complaint was that I had a hard time distinguishing one band from another, making me wish the bill had a little more variety.
Regardless, this night was not meant to surprise or regale. Barboza was filled with friends who, like the bands themselves, just wanted to spend some time together enjoying good music.
Audio recordings courtesy of the bands themselves.