I’ve always been extremely skeptical about any band that tried to live up to the melodic dreampop/shoegaze title even if they weren’t gunning for the number 1 spot. Slowdive had that approach mastered and I’ve considered them to be in a league of their own ever since I started deeply submerging into this sound.

There has always been more to describing this style than “highly delayed and reverbed melody with hauntingly soaring vocals & ethereal guitars”. That would be too formulaic of an explanation for a style that evokes such an all-encompassing feeling, from emotional to the physical.

Jesse turned me onto The Daysleepers a couple weeks back and pointed out that Goswell, Guthrie, and Halstead had given it their seal of approval. That in of itself for reasons stated above sparked my interest. After spinning it once, I was convinced they had chosen a perfect album title.

The Daysleepers Debut EP won the band many fans around the world (selling out the first pressing), and praise from shoegaze legends such as Robin Guthrie (Cocteau Twins), Rachel Goswell and Neil Halstead of Slowdive. It also hit ..1 for several weeks on the Tonevendor (Renowned Shoegaze Distributor) top 20 record sales list.

‘Mixing the soundscapes of Slowdive and the overall mission championed by The Cure’ is a fair comparison as it isn’t the most original undertaking, but very modern & complex-as-hell torchbearers in the dreamy music shoegaze arena. Bel Canto’s vocal approach can be seen here and there in these ears.

After exploring Daysleepers, newcomers are once again urged to revisit some Slowdive exploration to tap into the “magical songs” Jesse referenced in July of 2005 — and to get some background on where all this originated from.

Tiger in the Sea (Download)
The Daysleepers (Artist)
Purchase CD