April 13, 1999

Stony Sleep : Khartoum

Something must have gone right in [a]Stony Sleep[/a]land since their first album bombed

OK, so it may be the drummer, but at least one of Stony
Sleep
looks like a girl and that legally permits them to sound like Placebo. Albeit a Placebo clicking its heels and whistling 'Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah' at cartoon birds. Something must have gone right in Stony Sleepland since their first album
bombed,
for if there could ever be such a concept as 'happy goth' then this is it: perky stodge, chirpy dross, the recorded equivalent of a promotional Steps coffin. And amid the sludge there is a quite lovely music box chorus about how Stony Sleep think that humanity in general is pretty trustworthy. So next time they pop down the cemetery for a pleasant spot of haunting, I'll meet you at their back door with a running Transit and a jemmy. The PlayStation is mine. You can have the Bauhaus box sets.

Stevie Chick

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