Great Northern: Sleepy Eepee

Great Northern
Sleepy Eepee
Eenie Meenie
2007-11-06

Great Northern’s iTunes-only EP Sleepy Eepee is effective in building curiosity about their debut effort — passed over from earlier in the year. Already assured enough to incorporate easily recognizable children’s lullabies and lazy summer references into their songs, the LA group lays down a meek but surefooted claim to greater visibility. Now and then, as on “This Is a Problem”, they slip into more conventional songwriting tropes only to strain and break out — a creaky piano interlude here, an electronic-treated violin there — into something more interesting. The aching, shimmery vocals sometimes remind of Au Revoir Simone, but Solon Bixler gives an added depth — the male/female voices blend seamlessly. There’s a sleepy power to the guitars, but it’s more widescreen than muscular: whether you’re lying beneath a tree in the park as the sun sinks below the trees, or staring out at falling snow, you could do worse than throw on this stately, considered music.

RATING 6 / 10