Sleepy Suns - Fever

Fever, the second album from US band Sleepy Suns, is an ambitious and impressive work, which manages to combine different strands into a harmonious whole. The album, which is characterised by an expansive feeling of space, evokes psychedelic rock in its use of shimmering textures, haunting melodies, and 'trippy' vocals, with sparse acoustic arrangements and close harmonies providing a 60s folk rock flavour. These softer parts of the sound are held in check by the aggression of a distorted electric guitar and the drums, which surge forward intermittently.

At the heart of the album is a slow rock groove driving the tracks forward. This is best demonstrated on tracks like 'Marina', 'Wild Machines' and 'Desert God', which build progressively to deliver maximum impact at the conclusion. These tracks have a real swagger about them, and contain some of the album's finest moments. The further the band strays from this formula, the more readily it seems to come unstuck. For example, 'Open Eyes' and 'Freedom Line' start off well but get sidetracked on tempo changes and fail to regain momentum. 'Rigamaroo' (a duet) and 'Ooh Boy' (in waltz tempo), have less of a rock feel, but are successful in their own right. 'Sandstorm Woman' contains some good passages, but overall is not the most coherent track. 'Acid Love' represents something of an oddity, with the vocals anchored by a single sustained pedal bass.

Fever is a well-crafted album of real depth and character, which should be of particular interest to fans of classic rock.