The Sleepy Jackson - 'The Sleepy Jackson' (Virgin)
4/5
By: Toby L
Don't be fooled by the lo-fi, downbeat opening - this is not a part of any minimalist, NYC-based anti-folk charade. A minute into the second track and you'll realise that Antipodean foursome The Sleepy Jackson are quite possibly the musical-innovators that will drive 2003 into musical-legend.
And, how off-the-wall can you get? When did pop turn into this..? Pah - who cares over the details - the point is that we're here now: a time-zone glorious, dreamy and open-minded enough to produce and provide musicians as buoyantly melodic yet innovative as these openly peculiar song-smiths.
So, yes, they may clad themselves in costumes that even a superhero would think twice about, but there's little to ridicule over The SJ's fine art of a product. Amidst the band's first release - a tantalising mini-album - Luke Steele, our vocalist and key composer, has collected and melded together eight tracks of compellingly thorough and diverse depth, each piece significant enough to evoke floaty parallels to The Beatles, The Flaming Lips, or to any soul or country diva of the past fifty years worth any weight (God, just listen to 'Good Dancer' - never before has the notion of The Beach Boys getting down with Prince ever seen a more fruitful proposition).
They'll break your heart, too - seriously, try and hold back a well of tears during a mournful 'Now Your Spirit Drags The Pack' - and almost make you laugh with glee at their southern-US pastiche, 'Caffeine In The Morning Sun' (watch out Beck). Even Gorky's Zygotic Mynci adorers will flutter at the knees during a blissful 'Miniskirt', whilst Steele's unconscious Shane MacGowan impression amidst a final 'Let Your Love Be Love' will divide the enthusiasts either way.
Although uncertainty may originate as to how something as perplexing and intrinsically varying as 'The Sleepy Jackson' may have been brought about, there's one thing for sure - now this group are amidst our orbit, we'd have to be as insane as them to let go of such talent now.
Artists in this article: The Sleepy Jackson
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