Rating:

More than the innocence of the lyrics and the multiple interpretations of its album cover featuring a young boy of Malay-Chinese descent either sucking on a gory, intestine-flavored ice cream or doing his best to scare people with his swollen tongue pestered by countless pus, toxic contamination, something that would pass for horrifying monsters –the hazily vintage-feel of Sleepyheads' debut, (Don't let our) Tuneless Moaning (Go to Waste) kept me thinking how a boring sound which I earlier dismissed as pretentious and derivative, end up to be a promising anthem.

 Just like their idols Velvet Underground and The Modern Lovers, The Sleepyheads trio Jayvee Del Rosario, Erick Encinares and BJ Esber maintains a balance between lyrical simplicity and emotional imprecision, casting doubts of whether the entire mood of the album showcases happy, light-hearted thoughts or just pure ramblings of geeks and losers with suicidal tendencies. Like on the repeat button darling, "I'm not good enough" which sounds like a weeping of a sexless, unattractive guy whom all the girls in town will never learn to like no matter how he tried hard to look good. Sleepyheads tries to echo pity, but it does sound as if they're playing around merry beats, skipping guitar lines, steady bass and gamely vocal harmonies as cuddly as The Monkees or let's say, The Mamas and Papas. "Janitor fate" and "Underdogs of sunshine" while not really a cup of tea on the album, are yet another losers' rant in disguise of jangly guitar strums and melodious pop rush. Whether the duo are real life scum of a loser or just Napoleon Dynamite avids, it really works especially for the lo fi sound, cracking vintage and innocent.

The occasional casio-tones of the toy piano and synths, the twangy to jangly chord shapes of its guitar sound, droning basslines, the straightforward banging of drums and the vocals of Jayvee being slightly buried to the mix as to presume all kinds of technical devoid and minimalism, ensues into repetitive melodies with similar chases and paces while still knocking distinguishable form per songs. Album opener "Addiction" kicks off the hooky, energy-vibe and gracefully persists with the pandango slash church-organ rhythms of "Can't go to Church," the sheepishly addictive quality of "Dead poets," the tribute to 50's music of "Excitement calls" and the geek anthem, "I'm not good enough," heading into a good first half of enthusiasm, sarcasm and explosive, classic pop marathon.

The other half of the album leaves more space for variety, but wanes in comparison with the first because the songs hardly confluence or flow naturally when being consecutively played. "Man who wasn't there" and "Monotone melody" might pass for gray instead of dark with its unreceptive surges and tunes that turn sharply over its dusting vinyl pop sound, but hardly makes impressionable encounters to both casual and nitpicky listeners. "Positive for negative," though a pleasant song with enough decent hooks still isn't a strong single to deserve a slate for radio and music channel airplay. Only when they rely their drowsy heads to 60's pop, boy harmonies, The Beatles, The beach boys and anything summery with their songs  "Rescued," "Nature love is like" and the twee pop cuteness of "Tuneless Moaning" does Sleepyheads regain its fluid contour.

Regardless of the bad first impressions, Sleepyheads' latest record (Don't let our) Tuneless Moaning (Go to Waste) still is one or if not the best, one of the most unique releases of 2006. Sleepyheads not only gave us a full makeover of what it is to be pop, vintage, refined and strikingly pretentious, but also have proven to us that the next cool is uncool and that the long running battalion of geeks are the next thing to conquer the world.