Sometimes, a band name and album title can tell you a whole lot. New York City’s Midnight Spin comes off as the musical version of an energy drink, packing a listen full of furious riffs, frantic percussion, and sing-a-long choruses, but also providing the soundtrack to the crash, when your body succumbs to the adrenaline and you can’t help but slip into calmness.
The band is clearly well versed in punk and garage rock. Add in the fact that they bring in a producer who worked with The Strokes and you have a debut album with some serious muscle versus melody behind it. “Lion Run” starts off the right way – heavy and charged and riff driven. Later on, “Animal” follows a similar path and brings in distorted guitars and memorable vocals, easily becoming a song that would find a home on the FM dial. The grungy, thundering “Phantoms” sounds tailor made for 120 Minutes circa 1993, while “Conchiss Bliss” brings in a more dance rock feel. Quieter ideas are present on the gentle “Colors” and it ends with “The Other Side Of The World,” which threatens to be the quietest moment, starting out ballad like before exploding into fury, an exercise in moody, tense rock.
Though their sound clearly lingers in the past with plenty of alt-rock and Sub Pop nods circa the mid ’90s (especially on disc standouts like “Mission Beach”), other tunes like the modern sounding “Reagan Babies” could give The Killers a run for their money. While I do hear plenty of similarities in tone to Soundgarden, Weezer, or Foo Fighters, there are just as many parallels to more layered, atmospheric outfits like The Muse or Band Of Skulls.
In a time when rock bands are becoming more the exception than the rule, it’s nice to hear something guitar focused that rocks and rolls in all the right places. Don’t Let Me Sleep is a fine album that deserves to be heard by those who miss the days when electronic music was still the minority.
