The Sleepover Disaster - Hover

I know it’s 2009 and that The Sleepover Disaster are from Fresno, California, but, man, if someone told me that this record came out on Creation Records in the early Nineties, I’d believe them. Hover is a stunning work that is everything shoegaze should be—loud ringing guitars, effects pedals galore, and impossibly powerful melodies. Anyone who has ever bought records by Ride, Swervedriver, and Catherine Wheel is going to love this. Frontman, Luke Giffen, is one hell of a singer, reminding me a lot of Catherine Wheel’s Rob Dickinson. Songs like “Tremble,” “Funnel Cloud,” and “Friend” hold their own with Catherine Wheel classics like “Flower To Hide” and “Tumbledown.” The Sleepover Disaster aren’t a one trick pony though. They know how to slow down the tempo at times to give the listener breathing room in between all those high-octane stunners. The ballad “Make You Sing” is quite reminiscent of vastly underrated early Nineties Brit shoegazers Revolver, while other material like “Codebreaker” has a similar hypnotic sweep to Slowdive. For the most part, however, Hover is a bulldozing in-your-face blast of noise and melody. It’s no mistake these guys titled one of their earlier albums Loud Is The New Quiet.

thesleepoverdisaster.com