The baby's daddy is presumably M.I.A.'s new fiance Benjamin Brewer of the New York-based dub punk band The Exit.

Best of luck to Ben and M.I.A.!

(photo by Ofer Wolberger)

Only in the most special of places would a band choose to lounge around in the very van in which they’ve been driving, eating, drinking, living, sleeping, burping, and smoking across America instead of their own backstage. But Fresno, not a town known for its sophistication, is just that special a place.

Parked next to an abandoned steakhouse, Brooklyn’s The Big Sleep have opted for the van. Nestling themselves in-between wrinkled clothes, the booze stash, water bottles galore and band miscellany, they open all the doors, take in the rare San Joaquin Valley breezes and sing their praises that their set is done, complete with appreciative reception, and they’re no longer inside.

The venue, ‘The Exit,’ is named for exactly what you’d like to do the minute you reach the threshold. It is a concrete cave with no ventilation, clogged toilets, a ‘bar’ where two ‘security’ guards sell overpriced bottles of water (and only water) and a ‘backstage’ (a smaller concrete sweatbox) with a zebra-striped couch, and a SINGLE floor fan supplied by the security guard who has to stand next to it all night. It is located next to an old (and very closed) 50’s steakhouse, a used car dealership, across the street from a gas station which serves runny slushies, and an ancient International House of Pancakes which has been converted to a Mexican restaurant. The neighborhood (Blackstone & Belmont) is framed by freeway overpasses and train tracks, and is notorious for regular drive-by gang shootings.

Much of Fresno’s more adventurous gig-going crowds are well under 21, and most under 18. ‘The Exit’ is one of a few ‘all ages’ venues in town, hence the dry/non-existent bar, and lack of civilized amenities. They aren’t stupid. They know ‘kids’ will put up with anything to hear their favorite bands, and the shittier the place is the more ‘punk’ and the more street cred they can all stuff into their Jansports and take to school the next day.

So it came to be that one of Brooklyn’s best exports were surprised twice over. Firstly by the venue’s shocking lack of civilized features, and by the crowd’s pleasantly positive response to their heavily noize-based sound. Playing to a fan-base largely present for Portugal The Man and Minus The Bear, The Big Sleep wooed everyone except the ponytailed blonde girl with the slack jaw who was only came because her boyfriend dragged her. Heads nodded, toes tapped, eyes widened, and a few mouths said ‘yes, yes.’

Fresno has probably never heard a band quite like The Big Sleep, which is not at all unusual. Most places haven’t. Listing inspiration sources that run the gamut from Led Zeppelin to The Cure, their songs are heavily laden and textured, giving them a meaty, muscled quality. While the scales tip more towards noize-oriented than say vocal-oriented (such as Death Cab or other more dialogue-y bands), the vocals are imperative, and the alternating vocal stylings of guitarist Danny Barria and bassist/keyboardist Sonya Balchandani add a haunting effect to their ever-building wall of sound.

They are not prog. They are not ‘post-rock.’ They are not psych. They are not shoegaze. They are not indie pop. They are not a rehash band. They are a band who make much more noise than you believe is possible for three people, and they do it well. They do know how to rawk and how to build up a set, tier upon tier, until you’re absolutely sure they can’t play any harder, or any louder, they pummel you with more. And you are grateful, oh so grateful.

Without indulging in paranoia or sullen gloom, The Big Sleep emit a passionate tension, an anxious awareness of today’s complex life and times, and their generation’s dazed sense of displacement. They may not have our answers, but they know our questions, how ardently we ask them, and how desperately we want answers.

the big sleep on myspace

the big sleep have tunes avail on itunes, amazon, and at all good record stores. their latest release, 'sleep forever' is out on french kiss records.

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[audio http://audio.sxsw.com/2006/mp3/The_Exit-Dont_Push.mp3]

- Ab morgen: Vieles neu bei Sevenload, schreibt DWDL.

- Neues Notwist-Album im Mai, vorab gibts "Good Lies" gratis (mp3) - nett, haut mich aber nicht um.

[audio http://www.cityslang.com/mp3/goodlies.mp3]

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