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San Diego’s Sleeping People have woken up from a 3 year hibernation period with the stunning EP NOTRUF on the one and only Temporary Residence Limited. Pressed as a 12″ with each side dedicated to one track each, this is a really beautiful ride into the classic Sleeping People sound. With guitarist Amber Coffman leaving the band to pursue other projects, original guitarist of the group Joileah Thalmann has joined with guitarist Kasey Boekholt, bassist Kenseth Thibideau, and drummer Brandon Relf for this new 12″. Modern progressive music has deviated towards a lot of electronic music, creating a plethora of sub genres that seem endless now. Sleeping People is a refreshing reminder of the power and persona achieved through music with the classic four piece guitars, bass and drum set up. It’s complex and exploratory and demands a lot of attention to break down all of the layering. Both pieces display elongated runs of guitar tandem that flows into every direction possible. Drums and bass are endlessly locked into one another with drummer Brandon Relf diving deep into the endless possibilities of his kit.

“Klinik”, the opener for NOTRUF comes in at a little over seven minutes and leaves little time to get the energy into high gear. Guitar parts are sizzling at every corner, creating a really beautiful sense of dynamics between all four players right out the gates. The music of Sleeping People has always had a lot of transitional dynamics that push the listen into very far regions. Surrounded around the same note configurations, each section speaks a new voice inside of the identity of the song, especially “Klinik”. It’s a really raw approach to instrumental music as the guitars become more entangled by the second. The bass is really present in the mixes for each track and creates a really heavy, muscular feel towards the bottom end of the entire EP NOTRUF. It’s just as raw as the guitar tones and wraps tight grooves deep under the rest of the band. The guitar tandem in “Klinik” is non stop and doesn’t leave any room for falling behind to catch all of the unique lines woven inside. Piano is added into perfect alignment at the very end of this piece with the highly charged progressions under it. The piano addition adds a really elegant counter part to the matrix of guitar, drum and bass sheets the entire song feeds off of.

“Polezi”, the second side to NOTRUF, begins with really smooth palm muted guitars that unfold out of that state it is in bar after bar. The driving bass leaves a dissonant presence as the drums dynamically shift from normal to complete chaos in minutes. There is a subversive sense of drumming after the main section breaks out and the intensity gathers in a stream line explosive type of way. Drummer Brandon Riff does some of the most intricate breaks on his kit and the guitar tandem of Joileah Thalmann and Kasey Boekholt is just as exploratory and mind blowing. The build up around the 2-3 minute mark is euphoric and easily one of the heaviest things I have heard on record all year. It’s some of the most technical music under a presence of groove and repetitious note usage and presents a little something new every time you listen to it. “Polezi” is a really intense vehicle for the band and I can’t even imagine the kind of energy coming off stage with a type of song like this performed. The groove at 4-5 minutes in is astonishing and really adds a feeling of the 70′s era of prog bands. The song is catapulted so many times out of its former state that it left me speechless after countless listens. The drumming, guitars and bass shine with so much vitality and exploration that it becomes endless with what you can extract from this song.

I have been waiting for the Sleeping People sound to come back to the forefront. Sleeping People came out of nowhere with NOTRUF and I couldn’t be happier because of it.

-Erik Otis

Order the 12″ NOTRUF from Tenporary Residence Limited HERE

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Well, we didn’t expect this! After a 3-year hiatus following what we assumed was their swan song — the sprawling double-album, Growing — San Diego’s Sleeping People return with this hypnotic fever-dream of a 12″. Following the departure of guitarist Amber Coffman (who left to pursue her other group, The Dirty Projectors, full-time), Sleeping People’s core group — guitarist Kasey Boekholt, bassist Kenseth Thibideau, and drummer Brandon Relf – reunited with original guitarist, the nimble-fingered Joileah Thalmann. The Sleeping People trademarks are all here: angular, dissonant riffs, mind-bending counterpoint guitar interplay, and grooving, stop/start dynamics. The major evolution here is the hefty amount of patience and primal repetition; each song unfolds over many minutes, revealing something new with repeated listens. In other words, it sounds like what you would expect from a band that draws equal inspiration from Yes, Steve Reich, and Tool. – Temporary Residence Limited