Sleeper - Oxford (28 Oct 97)

1. Inbetweener
2. Romeo Me
3. Firecracker
4. What Do I Do Now?
5. Superclean
6. Lie Detector
7. She's a Good Girl
8. Traffic Accident
9. Nice Guy Eddie
10. Please Please Please
11. Sale of the Century
12. Rollercoaster

Zoe Ball on guitar for "Inbetweener"

Image scanned by Phillip Homer. From Q Magazine.

Zoe Ball, from Radio 1, plays "Inbetweener" on this set. The picture of Louise and Zoe appears later in Q Magazine. Other things worth mentioning is that Louise regretted not dedicating "Traffic Accident" to the late Princess Diane. The whole Princess Di/"Traffic Accident" song went on in 1998 as well.

Also, thanks to Tim Warner and Ois Scarlett

Melody Maker or NME. I'm going to say Melody Maker. Sorry, don't know date again. SLEEPER/THE SUPERNATURALS/RADISH BROOKES UNIVERSITY, OXFORD
Written by Ben Myers
Pic credit: Steve Hall
Pic caption: "Havin' a ball"
Transcribed by Fillerbunny

THERE she is. Batting her eyelids, smiling coyly as she wiggles her hips and attempts to strike another chord. To her right wiggles Louise Wener... hang on a minute, just what exactly is Zoe Ball doing onstage playing Sleeper's opening song, "Inbetweener"?

Lovely girl that she is, this whole thing reeks of desperation and latent opportunism. Why would Sleeper get the ultimate It Girl to play with them not on a wacky encore number, but the opening song? Quite simply, because there are 10 tabloid photographers down the front and they've only got a couple of songs during which to snap away. Desperate measures for desperate times then, Louise?

First though, young Texans RADISH kick off tonight's Sound City shebang with a handful of sugary songs which have the trio pogoing like they've got anteaters in their windcheaters. Or something. Whatever, they're far too good and make it look far too easy for us limey scum. Next, THE SUPERNATURALS, sounding like Blur and Bowie, Dodgy and The Jam, Lightning Seeds and Queen. They also sound like a friend's band - no specific friend, just a friendly, matey-type band. They're rinky-dink pop at its simplest and most tedious.

SLEEPER, though. Oh, dear. Sexless, vacuous, flat, watery relics of '95. Safe as houses. Dull, dull, dull. Tonight Sleeper don't so much as hint at progression or even a change of direction, in fact, songs like "Fire Cracker" and "Traffic Accident" sound so sub-New Wave and so innocently lost that you almost feel sorry for the little lambs. Almost.

There's nothing to look at, celebrate or even dance to unless, of course, you count keeping your neck rigid, your back slightly stooped and your hands tucked by your side as a celebration of the joys of pop. Sleeper seem to be resigned to playing in the shadows and here there's not a hint of the sun showing its face. Choppy, half-finished songs like "Nice Guy Eddie" (It may sound funny/But it wasn't supposed to") and "Statuesque" merely confirm my suspicions Sleeper have been existing far too long on corny interviews and hiccuppy, breathless choruses. Their music is utterly ineffectual and unaffecting, as highlighted on their lazy third album, "Pleased To Meet You"; it's neither pop nor rock, dance nor vaguely interesting.

It's time for an overhaul or the knacker's yard beckons Sleeper. And no number of leggy, giggling blondes are going to save them. BEN MYERS

SLEEPER / SUPERNATURALS / RADISH (Nov 97)

Brookes University

Just how much ridicule is she prepared to take? Sleeper’s Louise Wener providing the comedy element of Sound City week, prancing around the stage apparently convinced within herself that she can sing, leering into an audience of about ten people who actually appreciate it and 990 whose appreciation extends as far as the subsidised alcohol.

Admittedly, Sleeper would have had to have been amazing to raise the mood of dead slumber Brookes had slipped into; a result of punk brat ‘talents’ Radish: annoying and boring in equal amounts, let’s quickly pass on...

In between there were the Supernaturals. What? No flowery shirts? Really, boys, you could have made a bit more effort. Oh hang on, white polo necks. Yeah, that’ll do. They’re flush with cheery pop as ever, typified by hits ‘Lazy Lover’, ‘Day Before Yesterday’s Man’ and the like, although their over-confident chirpiness is too much to take at the best of times, never mind when faced with this dispirited throng.

So, back to Sleeper, now performing hits from three albums (the latest being ‘Pleased to Meet You'). Louise’s charm and knee-bend grooves not smothering the pain, and equally the sound system, were suffering from her limited vocal array. Still, at least she remains as tasteful in her comments as ever dedicating the line ‘Don’t write, don’t call me, unless you’re dying in a traffic accident’ to Princess Diana. Ah, bless. And just when you think the evening can’t get any, errr.... better, Zoe Ball appears on stage to play guitar on the Sleeper classic ‘Inbetweener’ and I realise I’ve run out of money for any more subsidised, pain-killing beverages....

Freiny Miles