by Jason

Lyca Sleep hails from Sheffield, England. They formed at the end of 2001 and have vowed to go and play were other bands have shunned. In 2004, Lyca Sleep signed to Genepool Records and has released their first single “Sold Me a Ride.” It is only two tracks, but displays a style that is altogether swirling and spacey.

“Sold Me a Ride” begins with dreamy, floating guitars and light percussion and bass. The vocals are airy as well and really bring an ethereal feel to the song. Eventually, the guitars build a bit and fade back to lighter moments. This grows to an almost pause in the music. Turning into a loud bridge, the guitars, percussion and bass become loud and the vocals become more and more aggressive. The change really brings something to the tune. It breaks the quiet and makes it so the song never gets repetitive. Also, throughout the song, I really found that the bass work is given different phrasing to lines here and there. It really brings some variety to “Sold Me.”

The b-side is a track called “South.” This begins with floating bass and dreamy guitar. This song is a slow tempo tune that really is wistful in its entirety. The vocals are spacey and ghostlike, with heavy reverb. Being a b-side, I think this is surely the weaker of the two tracks. I would like to either see it housed in an album as a whole or remain a b-side on it’s own.

In the end, I don’t think I can really judge a band by just two songs. It seems to me that the first, “Sold Me a Ride,” is a solid tune that any shoegazer would love. “South,” on the other hand, is not bad, but I need to be in a particularly dreamy mood to listen to it. This is the sort of track that is perfect for a b-side. Lyca Sleep definitely will help you float on that dreamy, swirly breeze of shoegaze bliss.