Inspiration comes from strange places for Paige Brubeck and Evan Sult of Sleepy Kitty. Take, for example, "Alceste in Silverlake," which might be Brubeck's favorite track from the indie rock duo's forthcoming album Blessing/Curse, due out June 23.
Bright and poppy with a slow rock build reminiscent of Cake with a touch of Alvvays, the song came from a Craigslist posting that a friend sent of a very demanding LA drummer seeking bandmates. Sult (drums) and Brubeck (vocals/guitar) had just seen a movie about putting on the Molière play The Misanthrope, and then the play itself.
The pickiness of Alceste, the title character from The Misanthrope, and that LA drummer just jibed.
"It was that serendipitous thing where two separate obsessions became one," Brubeck says, later calling the song Sleepy Kitty's sort-of "Bohemian Rhapsody." "It was this kind of very niche moment. Sometimes, I would love to write more universally relatable lyrics. ... But that's just how it goes."
Though the lyrics on some of Blessing/Curse can be niche and a bit unconventional, that's definitely part of the album's charms. But that's not to say that it's an unrelatable listen. Take, for example, the no-fucks-given, talky, snarly "I Got a Feelin'," which Brubeck says is her ode to professional frustration and disappointment. What could be more relatable than that?
Also, there's the band's sound, which is reminiscent of all your favorite indie rock/pop but somehow entirely fresh.
Then there's the album's backstory, which is marked by crazy highs and then a scary series of delays that at times had Brubeck and Sult wondering if Sleepy Kitty would ever be the same.
"This album has been done in our spirit for a long time," Brubeck says. "But it's finally coming out."
To understand the story, you have to know Sleepy Kitty. Sult hails from Bellingham, Washington, where he and his band Harvey Danger produced the 1998 hit single "Flagpole Sitta" (Listen: You'll know it). Some point later, post band split, Sult found his way to Chicago, where he met Brubeck, a Millstadt, Illinois, native who was studying art. (And, full disclosure, since 2018, he's been the art director for the RFT.)
They started dating and formed the band, moving to St. Louis in late 2008 in an empty former brewery on Cherokee Street, where they set up a screen-print shop and settled in to make music and art. They quickly established their place in the local scene and put out a first album, Infinity City, in 2011, then another, Projection Room, in 2014, then two EPs.
Then came 2016, when the two found themselves touring heavily and playing live in town frequently, at least once a month. They also dived into writing songs and recording what would become Blessing/Curse, drawing endless inspiration from the agonies of the 2016 presidential campaign.
"That was when I started having trouble with my voice," Brubeck says. After shows, her voice would go hoarse, and she'd need increasing time to recover. "I knew something was wrong, and eventually I found out that I had a vocal polyp. It sucked, and it was very, very frustrating and really slowed me down."
Brubeck had surgery to remove the polyp in the beginning of 2018. Afterward, she was on complete voice rest for a week and then gradually brought back talking and eventually singing over a period of months spent working with a speech pathologist and vocal coach.
Recovering from the surgery, Brubeck says she sensed that her range would come back. But it was still a fraught time filled with fears for the future.
"I often would ask Evan, 'Am I ever going to have my voice back ever again?' And he would say, 'Yes, you will,'" Brubeck says.
"That was one of my principal jobs for a while," Sult adds.
Turns out Sult was right: Sleepy Kitty played its first post-surgery show in late 2018. The band jumped back into playing and recording but not back to the same old. After a decade in St. Louis, Sult and Brubeck moved to Brooklyn, New York, in early 2019 — just a few months ahead of everything shutting down with the pandemic.
"The pandemic was a gigantic problem and a gigantic opportunity in our case," Sult says, noting how they used the isolation to focus on completing the album and narrowing down their songs to the final cut.
Finally, the duo was ready to put out the album sometime last year, only to be stymied yet again by a year-long delay in getting the vinyl pressed. That all speaks to the logic behind titling the album Blessing/Curse, which is also the name of the first track (and contains what Sult says is maybe his favorite-ever drum part).
"You can look at the same events as a blessing or a curse," Sult says.
"It just seemed like there was no other title for it besides Blessing/Curse," Brubeck agrees.
The album is a slight departure from Sleepy Kitty's previous releases, which have all been designed to be played live with just two musicians. But Brubeck and Sult decided to let that restriction go this time, recording with Philadelphia-based bassist Benjamin Schurr. The duo has lately been performing with NYC-based bassist (and songwriter in her own right) Sarah Moskowitz.
That tour is still in the works, but Sleepy Kitty is sure that there will be a St. Louis stop.
"The point is to get to St. Louis," Sult says. "It's the city that this album belongs to."
Blessing/Curse is out on streaming services June 23 from Nordic Records. The CD and vinyl are available for preorder now. Check sleepykittymusic.com or Sleepy Kitty's social media channels for details on the upcoming tour.
Subscribe to Riverfront Times newsletters. Follow us: Apple News | Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | Or sign up for our RSS Feed
