Album Notes

Having taken their brand of indie-rock to the masses through demos, shows, and radio appearances whilst receiving nary a death threat, Sleep out set off to the studio during the Fall of 2005 to record their first album, "I Was Your Shroud". The result: Eleven diverse compositions that toe the line between roadhouse donnybrooks and delicate lullabies. One canse sense the longing in "Cat or a Horse," or feel the whip cracking and taste the whiskey spitting while listening to "Stay of Execution." Batting clean up are bash brothers "It Wasn't Darkness" and "Old Mare". They didn't create these songs for their own good, folks. They merely ask to be your background music.


What the experts are saying about "I Was Your Shroud":



Punk Planet - May/June 2007 "Chicago has no shortage of excellent indie-pop/rock bands, but despite the wealth of talent here, only Sleep Out holds the crown for crafting one of the best debuts of 2006. Their influence of '80s and '90s indie-pop is apparent throughout the record, but nothing on 'I Was Your Shroud' is overly derivative or repetitive. Each song sounds fresh and new but cohesive in terms of the album. The jangly, sparkly guitars on tracks like 'Island Park' and 'It Wasn't Darkness' (which is probably my favorite song of the past year) are often coupled with a reverberating melancholy and perpetuated further by singer Quinn Goodwillie's airy voice. Both the production and lyrics are terrific and push great songs into even greater territory. 'I Was Your Shroud' is an excellent record from start to finish and hopefully Sleep Out will gain the notoriety they deserve because of it."Punk Planet

Delusions of Adequacy - Featured Review 11/23/06
"...There's an air of fatalism throughout I Was Your Shroud, a searing and dynamic acceptance of life's unpredictability in the album's lyrics. It reminds me a lot of the year's best debut record, Band of Horses' Everything All the Time. That's high praise (BOH are a great band), but the connections are real. Goodwillie and Sleep Out are as talented, and need just a little more time and seasoning to attain that same level of perfection. A highly recommended debut album..." -
Delusions of Adequacy


“And how does Sleep Out sound? Well, for the most part the guitars bear an electric fuzz, which is the underside of the reverbed vocals. And in the middle? An 'oh so sweet' indie rock cream of sing-along melodies. Of the three tracks offered here, "It Wasn't Darkness" is the favourite. The guitar sounding like, well, like it's happy and wants everyone to know. But these guys can, and do, sound like the Jesus and Mary Chain meets The Promise Ring--and that's promise 'ing' (oh, yeah, I know that's bad. If only I had an editor to talk me out of such mistakes.) But then they give off a spacy Americana vibe... which jibes with a couple of influences listed on their myspace, Spiritualized crossed with My Morning Jacket.” - Six Eyes


“Guitars getting beaten up in a way that reminds you of Interpol, but deep and resonant vocals that give the romantic nature of this song (“It Wasn’t Darkness”) it’s backbone. They even work a xylophone or glock or something similar in there. At any rate, it’s rock for the soul like Mylanta for taco-tummy. Does a body good” – Music For Robots


“In July, local indie-rock outfit Sleep Out celebrated the release of its debut album, I Was Your Shroud, a lovely, hazy pop affair that nods to the textured beauty of early ‘90s UK shoegazers like Th’ Faith Healers and Ride.” – Gapers Block

"Sleep Out's name is fitting—the local group plays dreamy, sleepy, somewhat '80s-tinged pop." - (concert pick 12/12/06) Time Out Chicago

“Shimmering walls of guitars, dripping with reverb and echo and vocal harmonies that reach to the rafters, Sleep Out has constructed a veritable rock masterpiece of incomprehensible proportions. One can only hope to eventually understand the impact that this Chicago supergroup will have on the rock n' roll landscape. Highly recommended.” –
Stuck Magazine

"Although the world of indie rock hardly suffers from a lack of sensitive and sentimental troubadours, I Was Your Shroud, the full-length debut from local quartet Sleep Out, proves there’s always room for more. From sweet lullabies like “The Ride Home” to the country and western-tinged “Stay Of Execution” and moody and reflective “Cat Or A Horse,” their unique and superb brand of songwriting can be found on each and every track, providing the night’s soundtrack for lonely indie rockers everywhere." - Illinois Entertainer

"Chock full of melodies, perfect execution, production that hones in on the subtleties of the songs while giving them room to breathe, the band hadn’t even recorded an album and had jumped to the top of Chicago’s indie pop food chain. It was only a matter of time until the word got out." - Em P Me

“After nosing around a bit at one of the best music blogs there is, I found another great ORD band. Yep, we are staying in The Windy City for some more good music that I hope you enjoy. I'm not even going to try to explain the sound you can already hear. This is just some good stuff to get your ears around.” –
Milk Milk Lemonade

What the experts are saying about the Shifted Sound compilation CD

"With so many artists turning to the internet to promote their music, we're going to need more resources to help separate the wheat from the chaff. Shelby Miller's Shifted Sound podcast thus provides a valuable service due mainly to Miller's exceptional taste and ear. He prefers attractive, guitar/keyboard-driven indie pop, and all 17 of these obscure and wide-ranging artists culled from his show - none of whom I had previously heard of - are intriguing in some way. In fact, the first four (Sleep Out, Huma, Paper Moon, and Kim Taylor) are flat-out terrific. Other favorites include Wolfy, Jonathon Inc., Tyler James, Fighterpilot, All Mighty Whispers and Pela, but everything is worth hearing. Also appearing: Judah Johnson, Wintergreen, Arizona, Marybell Katastrophy, Letting Up Despite Great Faults, Victor Scott and Dirty on Purpose." - The Big Takeover

"Once the disc arrived about 2 days after I ordered it, I threw it into my CD player and was greeted by Sleep Out performing my favorite track from Shifted Sounds. It Wasn’t Darkness is amazing, and fully worth the CD itself." - In My Mind


Check out the episode of the Shifted Sound podcast that we co-hosted. We play a couple of tracks from IWYS and songs by some of our friends (including: Hanalei, May or May Not, Universe Society and Driftless Pony Club). Listen HERE