At newly refurbished Brunswick street bar 'The Flying Cock', a turnout of a few dozen folk far better dressed than I watched on casually as Sleepy Tea assembled for the first show of their Specks EP launch tour. I took a few snaps and then retired to a booth right at the back while they played Waves off the EP. I sat forward, soaking up the vocals, keyboard and lead guitar reverberating in a dreamlike fashion and building up to a driving outro that was quite Coldplay-esque. This would take some beating as my favourite track from the gig. Following up was one of their earlier ones (possibly their first), Make Believe, which set a gentle tempo. I couldn't help but temporarily distract myself from the captivating lead guitar riff to focus on the song's deep lyrics as they repeated "and you start again..." before a progressive build up to a busy recap accompanied by the line "we'll make believe that it's love". Best song of the night, and a noticeably more attentive audience that ate it up. Continuing to dip in and out of pensive ballads and occasional rhythmic dynamism before closing on a much more energetic note, Sleepy Tea broke the hypnotic spell that gripped the audience with their final song. The band set upon an admittedly ‘bold’ cover of Hot Chip's Boy From School transforming the crowd into lively and visibly impressed spectators - some of whom had broken off to form a dance floor of sorts. Some gigs you're just checking your watch to make sure you don't miss your last bus, but Sleepy Tea delivered such a solid and genuinely enjoyable performance, I would've happily walked home.

- James Drury.