The go to argument against popular music has long been its lack of genuine emotion. Asleep doesn’t suffer from that problem, however it suffers from that the songs just aren’t all that catchy. “Hip to deaf” for an example is two and half minutes of drum banging and repeating of the song’s title. This is a bit of an exaggeration, but unfortunately it is only a bit. The song kind of beats the listener over their head, making it difficult to make a case for listening to the track a second time. This is a theme that continues throughout Unpleasant Companion, the sounds within songs just don’t blend.
“Deserted” is probably the most disappointing track, a nice guitar rhythm introduces the song, powerful lyrics follow it, but the two just don’t mesh. No matter the quality of the musical track, nor the lyrics, if the two don’t gel, a song loses its replay value.
Unpleasant Companion may serve as a flier album for fans of indie-rock to give a listen and then see what Asleep produces in the future. It’s clear that the passion is there, along with the talent, but for now the group’s final product is in need of refinement.
For more information on Asleep, check out their official website and Facebook page.