Sleepy Sun: Discography 2009 - 2017

 

Sleepy Sun were at the beginning formed as a five-piece bluesy garage rock outfit named MANIA by

UC (University of California) Santa Cruz students Bret CONSTANTINO (voices), Matt HOLLIMAN (guitar), Evan REISS (guitar), Hubert GUY (bass), and Brian TICE (drums) in 2005. The young, promising quintet gradually expanded their garage rock style into eclectic psychedelia and around 2007 they naturally changed their band's name to Sleepy Sun.
                      

Their first gig was exactly another dawn of SLEEPY SUN - a female sunshine Rachel Fannan (voices;

BIRDS FLED FROM ME) got immersed into the gig and decided to join the quintet. As a result, the Californian sextet SLEEPY SUN released their debut album 'Embrace' on their own in summer 2008. Soon after the release of Embrace, Jack ALLEN (bass) took the place of Hubert, and the sextet got more active and refined with their delightful rhythm section, striking bubbled twin guitars, and dreamy & enchanting chorus-duo.
                   

In 2009, SLEEPY SUN immigrated into San Francisco and played several prominent gigs

including The Noise Pop Festival or All Tomorrow's Party, which festival's boutique label ATP Recordings signed them and released their second album 'Fever' in May 2010. The album was recorded in Vancouver, Canada in April 2009 with producer Colin Stewart who also worked on the band's debut album.
                      

Fannan departed the band mid tour citing mental health reasons. The band declined to comment

on her departure, but Constantino later stated that "She's a really beautiful person in a lot of ways. I learned a lot about myself." Fannan returned to Los Angeles where she formed the band Only You and began a career in voice acting. In 2011, Sleepy Sun went on tour with The Black Angels.
                     

The band released their third album Spine Hits on April 10, 2012. Aside from Still Breathing, the

album was recorded in seven days at Hicksville Trailer Park and Rancho De La Luna in Joshua Tree with producers Ethan Allen and Dave Catching. Catching had previously guested on the band's previous album, laying down a guitar solo on V.O.G.. The first album without Fannon,
                

On January 28, 2014, the band released their fourth album Maui Tears. Prior to recording the

album, the band signed to Dine Alone Records who were fans of the band and contacted them with the proposal of working together. The album was recorded with producer Tim Green at his studio in Grass Valley, California.
          

Constantino described the album as being "spacey and very heavy at times, it's very dreamy, and I

would hope that it's more transcendent" that the previous album. Towards the end of the sessions, Constantino moved to Texas and now has to commute between there and San Francisco for rehearsals.
                   

In July 2015, the band announced that they had finished recording their fifth album, and the

following month revealed they were mixing it. However, in December stated that the album was still a "work in progress" and were still finishing it off in late January 2016. On March 21, 2017, the band published a new publicity shot which confirmed the departure of bassist Jack Allen.
                 

They are set to release their fifth studio album Private Tales in June 2017. The album featured both

former member Jack Allen and Owen Kelley on bass. Kelley was a member of Fine Points with Reiss and Holliman. The album also saw the band resume work with engineer and producer Colin Stewart, who worked with the band on their first two albums.
           

MEMBERS

                     

Bret Constantino - Founding member, vocalist and main lyricist
Matt Holiman - Founding member, guitar player and composer
Evan Reiss - Founding member, guitar player and composer
Brian Tice - Founding member, drummer and composer

FORMER MEMBERS

                 

Rachel Fannan - Female voice for the first two albums, departed in 2010.
Hubert Guy - Founding member, bass player, departed in 2009.
Jack Allen - Bass player from 2009 to 2015.

                      

01. SLEEPY SUN - EMBRACE 2009

                                  

Sleepy Sun never feel overly indebted to any of their influences, and over the course of Embrace, they

carve out their own niche within the realm of trippy, expansive music. Sleepy Sun have a slightly more structured approach than some of their contemporaries, and an instinctive feel for when to unleash their lysergic onslaughts and when to pull back and concentrate on melodies instead.
                  

Sleepy Sun – Embrace
Label: ATP Recordings – ATPRCD33
Format:  CD, Album
Country:UK
Released: May 11, 2009
Genre: Rock
Style: Psychedelic Rock

TRACKS

                 

        

01. New Age    7:25
02. Lord    5:39
03. Red/Black    2:11
04. Sleepy Son    7:24
05. Golden Artifact    3:42
06. White Dove    9:23
07. Snow Goddess    5:38
08. Duet With The Northern Sky    2:58

LINE - UP

Rachel Fannan / voices
Bret Constantino / voices
Matt Holliman / guitar
Evan Reiss / guitar
Hubert Guy / bass
Brian Tice / drums

NOTES

Recorded By, Producer – Colin Stewart
Written-By – Sleepy Sun

WHITE DOVE LYRICS
                            

     

Under a burnin' sky
There's no milk and honey here
In the land of God
Someone holds a sign
It says we are human too
And while the sun goes down
The world goes by

Fly with the wind
Take our hope under your wings
For the world to know
That hope will not die
Where the children cry
Waves, big like a house

                         

They're stranded on a piece of wood
To leave it all behind
To start again
But instead of a new life
All they find is a door that's closed
And they keep lookin' for
A place called hope

Fly with the wind
And take our hope under your wings
For the world to know
That hope will not die
Where the children cry
Na na na
Na na na
Na na na

                         

Can anyone tell me why?
Can anyone tell me why?
The children of the world
Have to pay the price
And now you're telling me
You've seen it all before

I know that's right but still
It breaks my heart
Well, the golden lamb we sent
Makes us feel better now
But you know it's just a drop
In a sea of tears
                    

Fly with the wind
Take our hope under your wings
For the world to know
That hope will not die
Where the children cry

Fly with the wind
Take our hope under your wings
For the world to know
That hope will not die
Where the children cry
Na na na
Na na na
Na na na

 

Flac Size: 266 MB

02. SLEEPY SUN - FEVER 2010

                           

This album has the perfect mix of stoner rock, psychedelic rock, and folk rock. The instrumentation is

masterful, and creates a colorful haze that extends in to the furtherst sonic horizons of the mind. At times it feels dreamy and soft, and in the blink of an eye it becomes a headbanger mash of smoke infused psychedelic madness. The entire album is interwoven like a narrative, and strikes the ear as an inspired tale of reveries induced by smoking in the California sun light until everything melts together, and the sun becomes as sleepy as you are.
                

Sleepy Sun – Fever
Label: ATP Recordings – ATPRCD39
Format: CD, Album
Country: UK & Europe
Released: May 2010
Genre: Rock, Blues
Style: Psychedelic Rock

TRACKS

                     

01. Marina    6:21
02. Rigamaroo    3:23
03. Wild Machines    6:03
04. Ooh Boy    2:05
05. Acid Love    2:41
06. Desert God    5:16
07. Open Eyes    3:37
08. Freedom Line    3:01
09. Sandstorm Woman    9:50

LINE - UP

Rachel Fannan / voices
Bret Constantino / voices
Matt Holliman / guitar
Evan Reiss / guitar
Jack Allen / bass
Brian Tice / drums

NOTES

Recorded and mixed April 13th - 29th 2009 at The Hive in Vancouver, BC.
Mastered By – Bob Weston
Songwriter – Sleepy Sun

Flac Size: 242 MB

03. SLEEPY SUN - SPINE HITS 2012

                       

Sleepy Sun's miles, months, and days in the van are a tangible presence in Spine Hits, an album of whimsy, restlessness and urgency that leaps nimbly from landscape to landscape with ease, irreverence

and a catch-em-before-they-aint-changeling nature. Spine Hits isn't a portrait of a band in a moment. It's a box of snapshots spilled on the floor and blowing in the wind....left behind by a band that can't stop moving, but remembers what they left behind in a thousand colors. This record represents an epic jump in songwriting and vocal performance. Every track is engaging in it's own right but the record as a whole takes you on a journey you won't want to come home from.                 

Sleepy Sun – Spine Hits
Label: The End Records – TE262-2
Format: CD, Album, Digipak
Country: US
Released: 2012
Genre: Rock, Blues
Style: Psychedelic Rock, Indie Rock

TRACKS

                     

01. Stivey Pond    2:52
02. She Rex    3:55
03. Siouxie Blaqq    4:35
04. Creature    3:16
05. Boat Trip    3:50
06. V.O.G.    4:14
07. Martyr's Mantra    6:05
08. Still Breathing    5:02
09. Yellow End    3:46
10. Deep War    3:35
11. Lioness (Requiem)    4:44

Flac Size: 301 MB

04. SLEEPY SUN - MAUI TEARS 2014

            

Fourth album Maui Tears continues riding the strengths of Spine Hits, and sees the band becoming an

even more tightly wound studio entity, with precision production and incredibly locked-in performances that dip into a gradient of various psychedelic styles. Heavy, swirling tunes like "11:32" accentuate the band's roots in the kind of blazing garage-psych that made them great tourmates for the like-minded Black Angels.
             

Sleepy Sun – Maui Tears
Label: Dine Alone Records – DA093
Format: CD, Album
Country: Europe
Released: Jan 28, 2014
Genre: Rock
Style: Psychedelic Rock

TRACKS

                

01. The Lane   4:43
Guitar – Tim Green
02. Words   4:37
Synth – Tim Green
03. Everywhere Waltz   6:00
Backing Vocals [Gang Vox] – Brandon Moore
Vocals [Vox] – Camilla Saufley-Mitchell
04. Outside   3:56
Slide Guitar – Isiah Mitchell
05. 11:32    4:10        
06. Theilbar   6:24
Piano, Vocals [Vox] – Tim Green
Vocals [Vox] – Mandy Green
07. Slowdown   3:23
Vocals [Vox] – Ethan Miller
08. Galaxy Punk    2:36
09. Maui Tears   10:31
Narrator [Prose] – Karin Anne Magdalene
Vocals [Vox], Flute, Narrator [Prose] – Camilla Saufley-Mitchell

NOTES

Producer, Mixed By – Tim Green (2)
Written-By, Performer, Producer – Sleepy Sun

Flac Size: 319 MB

05. SLEEPY SUN - PRIVATE TALES 2017

                   

On their 5th album, this San Francisco band delivers dreamy atmospheric rock songs with soaring,

celestial guitars, deep-plodding bass throbs, hypnotic vocal harmonies and lofty psychedelic-tinged, classic rock melodies. Music that is reminiscent of the more predictable side of bands like Pink Floyd, Black Mountain, The Black Angels. “Private Tales” is an album of expansive, utopian classic rock with a laid-back prog/psych feel that’s kind of comfortably nice to listen to.
                     

Sleepy Sun – Private Tales
Label: Dine Alone Records – DA186
Format: CD, Album
Country: US
Released: Jun 9, 2017
Genre: Rock
Style: Psychedelic Rock

TRACKS

                

  
01. Prodigal Vampire   3:51
02. Seaquest   4:26
03. When The Morning Comes   5:43
04. It's Up To You   4:47
05. Throes   4:21
06. Crave   6:15
07. The Keys   4:14
08. Demon Baby   3:08
09. The Plea   1:49
10. Reconcile   3:51

LINE - UP

Bret Constantino / vocals
Matt Holliman / guitar
Evan Reiss / guitar
Brian Tice / drums

ADDITIONAL MUSICIANS

Jack Allen / bass
Owen Kelley / bass

NOTES

              

All songs written and performed by Sleepy Sun.
Engineered and mixed by Colin Stewart.

Flac Size: 266 MB