Utahpolis

Kind of a slow news day around here so I’m going to feature another group who I feel deserves a little more credit than they’re given…..The Sleepy Jackson.  I suppose I should say “he’s given” since the band is basically Luke Steele and whomever is performing with him at the time.  The story goes that Luke is difficult to work with, an egomaniac, and has gone through something like 27 different band members over the years.  I can’t vouch for all that; I’ve only hung out with the guy once at a party and he seemed perfectly pleasant to me.

His music is certainly derivative of a lot of 70’s AM pop, but it’s done in a way that isn’t simply a generic rehash.  Sure, that guitar riff is straight up George Harrison, but how many times have you heard a band pull that sound off so well?  Luke doesn’t half-ass the songwriting or production.  Everything is over the top, but not in a bad way.

I got to see them perform live at The Dame in Lexington, KY in 2004.  Great show, but sadly there were only a handful of people there, perhaps fifty at the most.  I suppose an Australian band touring a recently released debut album playing a small mid-west club shouldn’t expect more, but I still felt let down about the turnout.  I was the publicist of the club at that time and it was my responsibility to get folks in the door.  Sorry, guys!

As usual, I took in my fair share of free rum and coke at the show so details are blurry.  It was one of the few times I left my usual spot to go to the very front of the stage and rock out, though.  The band returned the favor by playing a surprisingly energetic set full of emotion and lots of feedback.  Small crowd be damned, they put on a hell of a show.

So far, The Sleepy Jackson has only released two full length albums, 2003’s Lovers and 2006’s Personality - One Was A Spider, One Was A Bird.  I imagine that it takes some time for Luke to get the tracks the way he wants them, so who knows when we will see another album.  In the meantime, Luke is doing a few solo dates across Australia.  Dates are below…

I’ll leave you with The Sleepy Jackson song that first got my attention.  I’m a huge George Harrison fan, so I was hooked after I heard that intro guitar….

The Sleepy Jackson - Good Dancers

TOUR DATES (LUKE STEELE SOLO)

TUE AUG 5 - Toff In Town - Melbourne, Victoria
WED AUG 6 - The Basement - Sydney, New South Wales
THU AUG 7 - The Brass Monkey - Cronulla, New South Wales
FRI AUG 8 - Sol Bar - Coolum, Queensland
SAT AUG 9 - Globe Theatre - Brisbane, Queensland
FRI AUG 15 - Devilles Pad - Perth, Western Australia