Album Notes

Sleepwalk Kid is a rock trio that mixes the raunchy assault of The Pixies and Smashing Pumpkins with the detailed songcraft of Wilco and Elliott Smith. Creating a sound for both thinkers and drinkers, Sleepwalk Kid is equally happy with a pounding punk-laced barrage or a subtle experimental groove. The band’s first record “Stubborn Keys” will be released September 10, 2008 at Portland’s Towne Lounge.

It is the summer of 2008 and Sleepwalk Kid is emerging from hibernation. Members Tim Murphy, Nick Angelo, and Christian Pokorney have been honing their fuzz-rock sound for the better part of two years, forgoing a packed gig schedule for a meticulous experiment/practice/experiment routine. With shiny new record \"Stubborn Keys\" in hand the band is arising from the basement into the bright, scary world. Ready to rock, of course.

Sleepwalk Kid\'s 12-track debut \"Stubborn Keys\" is a lesson in efficient rockage. The bulk of the recording was done in the classic 60\'s rock style—three guys playing very loudly together in one expensive-looking room. Most tracks were picked from three or four takes and all band performances were recorded over three days in March 2008. The resulting sound is minimalist yet muscular, an apt avenue for Sleepwalk Kid\'s mix of cerebral and manic tunes.

As for the background, Murphy and Angelo have been producing original music since 1999. As teenage friends in suburban Portland, they would smuggle acoustic guitars to school and spend spare minutes between classes learning their favorite songs. When enough chords were learned, the duo began writing their own material. Eventually more musical comrades were enlisted and the sludge-rock group Chrysalis was formed in 2002. A live record was recorded and a handful of shows played, but teenage friends fell away as they tend to.

Angelo and Murphy continued to write together and self-produced the record \"Stargazer\" as the psych-rock duo Featherstone in 2003. While no band was formed to play the new songs, Murphy and Angelo played gigs as a duo. At this time they also joined with songwriter Mark Shifflett to form the roots-rock group RoughCuts, for which Angelo and Murphy produced the record \"The Unseen Sound\" in 2005.

New York transplant Christian Pokorney joined Murphy and Angelo in 2006 to form Sleepwalk Kid. Following a year of rehearsal and songwriting, the new band began performing in Portland clubs in 2007. With the September 2008 release of their full-length debut \"Stubborn Keys,\" Sleepwalk Kid is currently looking play throughout the Northwest and stretch their cumulative creative muscles.