March 23 • the shakedown

The vibes were ambient at The Shakedown Sunday night, but there was a tinge of anticipation on most all faces being that Sleepy Sun would take stage later in the night, Big Oil started off the night with quite the bang, drums were rabid and quirky while lifting the classic 1970’s drones high. The front man easily got the crowds attention with his wild antics and blush worthy motions. Over all, I dug their classic feel and semi London Punk flare here and there.
Local music on fire tonight as Falling Upstairs took stage, I wasn’t expecting an instrumental piece, but let me tell you, it sure had me grooving! Sultry saxophone solos atop the wailing riffs had the crowd surely pleased. There were some Tom Morello moments for me with the guitar flow, but over all this band was spunky and the crowd was seriously into the upbeat, jazziness of the whole shebang.
Alas, the stage was streaming denim and great hair as San Franciscan natives Sleepy Sun began to trance the crowd with their insanely dreamy sounds. Brett Constantino’s vocals were smoother than satin, and stage tactics were heavenly. Ladies best beware of some serious sensuality protruding off the stage when these boys are playing, haunting melodies and ever-changing riffs could make you melt. Sleepy Sun puts on a truly synchronized set, drawn out songs rendering high, drippy, standards. I would say they are more on the mild side of psych rock, but the fuzziness of their sound is apparent, and dwindles quite epically throughout their music. Most fans that made it out were swaying more so to the Fever album, which was what I was, personally most stoked for. Raw and thick with emotional strums, Sleepy Sun turned a Sunday night in Bellingham into a sensational moment of psychedelic romance.
–Kait Raymond