Sleeping People - Growing

The players: Kasey Boekholt, Joileah Maddock, Brandon Relf, Kenseth Thibideau. Sleeping People have packed a lot into the two years since the release of their sleeper hit (no pun intended) of a debut album. The San Diego four-piece suddenly found themselves a trio after founding member Joileah Maddock moved to New York City. Almost immediately, Amber Coffman stepped in to replace Maddock. This lasted for little more than a year before Coffman also moved to NYC to join The Dirty Projectors. This prompted Maddock to rejoin the band, just in time to complete their second full-length, Growing. If you blinked, you probably didn’t notice a difference. Written and performed throughout this period of change, Growing advances Sleeping People as a band in every way. It’s faster, more aggressive, more thoughtful and more dynamic than their debut. Engineered by Ben Moore (Hot Snakes, The Black Heart Procession), the songs are pushed to extremes, sparking an addictive adrenaline high that is ultimately eased by Rob Crow’s surprise appearance at the conclusion of the album, his saccharine vocals providing a perfect, blissful freefall. Growing is Sleeping People at their most inspired. It is a document of a sometimes frantic, always fearless band who sounds best when they’re only pretending to be in control. Like the band itself, Growing embraces change with an improvisational flair that is both confounding and consuming.

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