Combative. That is the word that Sleeper Agent’s rocking lady-singer Alex Kandel used to describe their sound, and nothing could be closer to the truth.
Rolling Stone magazine described their music as “fizzy and combustible as a can of shook soda.”
This Kentucky-grown, garage-pop/rock band plays at Exit/In tonight as the eighth stop on their “Harlem, USA Tour” with New Politics and Magic Man. Featuring former Belmont student Lee Williams on the bass, Sleeper Agent’s members are excited to be back in Nashville.
“Nashville has a lot of our favorite places like 5 Points Pizza and 3 Crow Bar,” said Kandel. “We just really love Nashville.”
Kandel went on to say that Tony Smith, fellow-lead singer and guitarist for Sleeper Agent, and she intend to move to Nashville at the end of their tour.
Sleeper Agent’s show Wednesday will feature songs from their 2011 album “Celebrasions” as well as new music from their upcoming album “About Last Night.” Kandel says that fans should look forward to a new sound.
“We’ve changed a lot actually. ‘Celebrasions’ was just about playing fast and hard and about gut-instinct, but with ‘About Last Night,’ we really pushed ourselves to get deeper. We spent a lot of time writing and re-writing,” said Kandel. “My personal favorite off the new album is ‘Haunting Me.’ In general, I love the whole album, but ‘Haunting Me’ is my favorite track to sing.”
It was this “gut-instinct” sound that put Sleeper Agent on Rolling Stone’s “Band to Watch” list back in 2011, and the new album is sure to thrill.
And fans have even more incentive to come out to the Nashville show:
“You can buy our new 7-inch vinyl at the show, and no one else can,” said Kandel. Otherwise, this new single “Waves” is only available as a digital download or vinyl pre-order online. “About Last Night” can also be pre-ordered online and is set to release March 25, 2014.
After the Harlem, USA Tour, you can catch Sleeper Agent at the Shaky Knees Music Festival in May and at the Firefly Music Festival in June.
The Exit/In show starts at 8 p.m. Tickets are available online.
-Emily Hunerwadel