Tampa shoegaze/alt roots sextet Sleepy Vikings experienced significant national exposure this year and deserve props for really putting themselves out there. The buzz began with a performance at Paste Magazine’s Atlanta studio for its “Live at Paste.com” series last August, and has only snowballed following the May release of their brooding nine-track debut, They Will Find You Here (New Granada Records). They hired a well-connected PR firm to help get the word out, earned glowing record reviews from reputable online music rags, prompted a wave of positive live reviews after their first-ever (19-date) tour, and even caught the attention of high-profile musician Marc Bianchi, aka Her Space Holiday, who whipped up a remix of their song “Calm” and posted it to the super indie popular My Old Kentucky Blog in August. The break-out band is poised to bring even more attention to the Tampa Bay music scene when they set out on their second national tour in October. sleepyvikings.com.
This article appears in Sep 22-28, 2011.