A black-and-white group portrait of three people standing on and near a set of railroad tracks. The individual on the left is wearing a striped polo shirt and dark trousers; the person in the center is wearing a sleeveless black top and sunglasses; and the person on the right is wearing a graphic t-shirt, sunglasses, and athletic sneakers. In the background, a large industrial building with graffiti and a "W X" railroad sign are visible.
Sleeping Pills Credit: Courtesy

Sleeping Pills sounds like crawling out of a foggy beach town at midnight. Darker and more jagged than your average post-punk outfit, the band blends murky guitar lines, punk rhythms and brooding melodies into songs that feel lived-in. 

The Tampa trio, fronted by Phil Taylor with Zack Strickland and Nate Irizarry, fuses jagged post-punk with garage-y surf riffs and new-wave hooks, forging a hybrid that gives their music a sense of drifting motion. 

Tracks like “The Lighthouse” preview an upcoming album, remaining grim and hypnotic but with an oceanic twist. That energy will come to life on Feb. 13, when Sleeping Pills celebrates the release of its new album, Patterns in the Sea, at The Bends, joined by Merchandise frontman Carson Cox and Nic Hamersly’s 808-driven synth project Ortrotasce.

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This article appears in Jan. 29 – Feb. 04.