• Band / Artist : Sleeper Car – mySpace
• Genre : Folk / Americana
• Sample Track Download : Hold Me Now
• Buy CD : CD Baby
• Buy Digital Download : iTunes
• Rating : 8 out of 10

I didn’t quite know what to make of this CD when I first put it into the CD player. It has a very Celtic, almost country feel to it. Yet again, I see the term Americana used by a band and it was then that the Byrds came to mind, specifically the later part of the Byrds catalog, which I have to admit, if I’m honest, wasn’t my favorite era of theirs, but they still managed to shine the odd spark of brilliance. So there was no one more surprised than me, when I found myself really getting into the first track “Lay It Down”. This is a track that conjured images of the wild west and dusty saloons and I found myself almost shooting a video in my head.

“I Won’t Break Down” is a softer sounding track, with a great chorus and some really nice guitar work. Throughout the verses I found myself almost mesmerized by the acoustic guitar that sits so subtly underneath. I put aside the puns I had for “Anti Climatic Girl”, which has a real relaxed sound, almost akin to a drawl. “Caliber Eyes” continues the relaxed sound and I almost forget that I’m not listening to some classic album of yesteryear.

“Hold Me Now” has a slightly more contemporary sound, but still underpinned, by the great work preceding it on this 6 track EP. It was with this track that I realized the production is spot on. Not once do you feel overpowered by either the vocals nor music, it’s just perfectly balanced. The final track “Follow”, is is probably my favorite track on the EP, it has an ever so slightly disjointed feel to it, but it really works in the tracks favor, giving it some real body to bite into.

Conclusion : I have to admit, had I see this album on the shelves of a record store, I would probably discounted it in an instant. It’s so satisfying then to be able to delight in finding another gem, from a genre that I’m suddenly becoming quite a fan of.