Slumbers are an indie pop trio from Rochester, New York, known locally for their slumber party live shows which see the band take to the stage in dressing gowns and sleep masks. Their debut EP, Come Over, is the latest release from the good people at Sports Day Records, and it’s not hard to make the connection between their cosy style choices and their music – warm and gentle indie pop with almost lullaby harmonies and mild-yet-catchy melodies.
‘Anju’ begins with some softly pealing guitar and gentle sleigh bell percussion, before slipping into the smooth and slinky indie pop that Slumbers have made their own. ‘TFIM’ stands for “thanks for inviting me”, and is a song about going to parties but not exactly being the life and soul of them.
“Saw you walking home the other day
and looked the other way
of course I wanted to say hi
but I’m too damn shy”
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‘Stay Hidden’ stirs some dreaminess through indie pop, telling the tale of crippling worry and self-doubt. The song has a surprisingly catchy chorus, considering its subject matter, with the repeated harmonized line “Anxiety takes over me I wanna leave”.
‘Doboom Soon’ opens with, “Laying in bed, feel like I’m dead, don’t want to get up and go out”, the perfect start to what proves to be a bummed-out bedroom pop song in the vein of Cyberbully Mom Club, while ‘Battle is a sweetly sad song about that all-too-familiar anxiety that affects much of privileged western society.
“It feels like I’m
in a constant battle with my mind
just to stay sane and to stay happy
whatever happy is”
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‘Fuzzy’ is a slight change of pace, dominated by quivering keys until the onset of percussion around the minute mark. It almost sounds like a twenty-first century update of Mountain Man’s sparse group harmony folk. Closing track ‘Milkshakes’ returns to guitar-led indie pop, a song imbued with a sense of lazy but heartfelt apathy (as captured in the nicely-phrased chorus: “Didn’t look like I was shaking but I could barely light a match / it doesn’t matter anyway the fire won’t last”). The final song also contains a line that sums up the whole Slumbers ethos in just a handful of words.
“I’d rather not be awake
and have to make mistakes
I need a break”
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You can get Come Over on cassette via Sports Day Records and as a digital download from the Slumbers Bandcamp page.