I never was a fan of Deftones. Back in the day, they had Nu metal stamps all over them, making them automatically denied for a chance to be listened. After that, during the age of everyday discoveries, there were just too many bands and Deftones never really got the opportunity to make me a believer. The only album that I listened to is Koi No Yokan, it was a good mix between alt and post rock/metal, but there was no time for serious involvement. On the other hand, every side project of Chino Moreno was a masterpiece listened to over and over again. Beautiful and serene post-rock anthems he did with Palms still have a place in my everyday playlist and his work with ††† is nothing short of genius; I listened to their self-titled debut more than I would admit, becoming a die-hard fan in a matter of weeks. A couple of weeks ago discovery was made, another Chino’s project was found, and I had to check it out.
Team Sleep is a side project of Chino Moreno, founded during the first couple of years of 21st century, a time when Deftones was a huge, mega popular band. The music is much more atmospheric, with dream pop passages and post-rock guitars. On their debut, the audio image leaned more towards dream pop and electronica; guitars were just a tool with a single purpose of spicing up the atmosphere and providing a perfect background that will support Chino’s serene vocal. Last year they recorded a live album (recorded in front of a live audience at Applehead Studios, published a year ago) named Woodstock Sessions Vol. 4, in which they re-recorded five songs from the debut and added four old demos, making a nice pseudo-live performance.
This offering looks and feels much denser than the debut. Songs arrangements changed, electronic parts got shaved off, and guitars took the front row, with Chino’s vocals staying fantastic as ever. The music played on Woodstock Sessions is much more grounded in electric guitar sound, there are still plenty of dream pop passages and traces of alt, but as a whole, music is definitely in post-rock/metal waters.
Compositions are majestic, epic, and just grand. The buildup and wild crescendo of Your Skull Is Red can put to shame almost every post-rock band out there, Formant has that fantastic hook, prominent throughout the song, it will stay in your head the moment song ends. Ever (Foreign Flag) sounds a lot like Chino’s work with †††, dream pop combined with atmospheric guitars and his calm signing will launch you into a tranquil place where music is still beautiful, and the sun always shines. All songs are excellent, making album’s 38 minutes playtime look way too short. At least there is debut record to take a couple of songs from and put them in a combined playlist, along with this masterpiece. After that, just press play and let the music do the talking. Highly recommended.
