EMBRACE

Embrace is the debut album by Californian sextet Sleepy Sun. From the outset their heavy brand of stoner rock reminds me of Canadian band Black Mountain, thanks to the mix of slightly lethargic male and female vocals. They don't rely on keyboards the way Black Mountain do but the fuzzed-out guitars, tribal drums and heavy bass are all present. Sleepy Sun's own West Coast roots are also evident especially on the more laid-back and acoustic songs like the '60s-inspired GOLDEN ARTIFACT, while the alt-country piano ballad LORD sounds like Ryan Adams (which is just fine by me). There's an obvious religious message in this song with lyrics about finding the saviour, and similar themes run through the album as on the epic WHITE DOVE.

Highlights include the atmospheric slow-blues of SLEEPY SON that includes some fine amplified harmonica, and the psychedelic, murky NEW AGE that opens the album. There's not a great deal of melodic interest in some of the lengthy distorted guitar grunge jams, but I guess that's not the point of these pieces. Tarcisio just beat me to the first review of this album, and that review summarizes Embrace very well. For me it's somewhere between 2 and 3 stars; it gets better with repeat plays so I'll be generous and give it 3 stars.