Day Sleeper - Wonderland Kid

Day Sleeper's "Wonderland Kid"

There’s a line in the second song of this EP that stuck with me throughout subsequent spins of the disc.  In the middle of “Maggie May I,” Cas Kaplan speaks through a swirling build:  “As long as you live, you will never be right about anything, ever.”  The cyclonic bridge comes to an abrupt halt on Kaplan’s command, and the rest of the song rides out on a group chant:  “This is real.”


The sequence seems so poignant because not being “right” is what is so right about “Wonderland Kid.”

Luke Pyenson’s drums rotate and flirt with standard rhythm but never settle there.  The chord progressions stay dizzy, rarely landing where you might expect them to.  The high-register, playful guitar plucking, a unifying theme across the EP, is almost indecisive and curious, like a child’s wide-eyed wondering at the current moment without a care for the next.  There is a familiar whimsy to Kaplan’s vocal delivery, especially in the beautifully introspective, down-tempo title track, but the band is at its most engaging when they revel in their delirious circles around pop structure and melody.

Recorded mostly at WERS studios, the production is crisp, cohesive, and tight, but the last track, “You Knew,” recorded live at TT’s in Cambridge, is soaked in the cavernous reverb of the room, and it sounds like the best way to appreciate this band: totally immersed in their sound, with the impression that their next move might be a surprise even to them.

- Cullen Corley

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Hear Wonderland Kid and Day Sleeper’s full length Drop Your Sword on Band Over Boston.  Also, check them out at http://www.myspace.com/daysleeper.