Rising from the ashes of the now defunct skycamefalling, Victory Records’ The Sleeping sound like a cross between a number of bands – many of which have already appeared on Victory’s expansive roster. There’s a Taking Back Sunday-esque feel to ‘Questions and Answers’, but there’s also a bit of June and also a bit of theAudition too. Maybe I’m just looking for (bad) comparisons, but this really sounds like a Victory album. Which I suppose makes it a little contrived and obvious…
Still, ‘Questions and Answers’ isn’t all bad. Sure, we’ve heard it all before yadda, yadda, but the songs on this album are all pretty strong and distinctive. Doug Robinson has a pretty strong vocal that stands out for a good while after you’ve stopped listening and this makes songs like ‘Don’t Hold Back’ and ‘Loud and Clear’ worthy of repeat listens. The clever drum patterns which open ‘The Big Breakdown’ and ‘Listen Close’ make The Sleping stand out from many of their peers – although, to be honest, there are a lot of similarities here too – ‘Heart Beatz’ is slow and a bit dull, while a few other tracks go down the predictable and generic TBS-lite route. Still, in small doses this is well worthy of a listen.