I don’t know much about Sleep Kicks including which part of Norway they are from, if they’ve been in other bands, and so on. The only clue they offer is that they are “providing the soundtrack for restless nights in Urbia.” But I was immediately attracted to them by several different factors including their ‘Inspirational songs from 2020’ playlist on the would-be English soccer team owner’s site. It’s quite a tasty little selection, throwing in the likes of Fenne Lily alongside Fontaines DC; Lanterns on the Lake and Soccer Mommy with veteran Norwegian thrashers Motorpsycho.
The song’s tasty, too. It begins life with chords and melody very much like those of Siouxsie and the Banshees’ ‘Hong Kong Garden’. I guess that’s just to drag you in because thereafter you could be listening to an early King Crimsom with Greg Lake on vocals and occasional flashes of Ian Anderson.
Speaking of Motorpsycho, a band that the PR firmly links them to, they’re getting on a bit and I’m sure that I saw their ‘farewell’ show at the Øya Festival a couple of years ago. Then again I know people who have seen 10 of them from Tina Turner. While making a judgement off one single song isn’t advisable, if push came to shove though I’d say that Sleep Kicks are successors in waiting. To Motorpsycho, not Tina.
I’m not sure just what the song is about. At first I thought paranoia, then suicide, then something to do with the virus as there’s a ‘Grim Reaper’ feel to it. It could be any of those subjects or I might be miles off target.
Whatever it boils down to it’s worth your efforts to find a couple of minutes to listen to it.
‘My Own Demon’ was released today on Friday 30th April.