New York City heavy-psych band Sleep Maps announced their return this fall with a teaser video premiere courtesy of Consequence of Sound. The band’s new long-form EP (four songs spanning 28 minutes), Medals quickly follows their recent debut full-length, which dropped in May 2012. Watch video HERE.
Medals is based upon the Winter Soldier Investigation from 1971. “A group of Vietnam vets held a press conference in Detroit to discuss the atrocities they had seen and sometimes participated in,” Ben Kaplan explains. “This was meant to bring attention to the mainstream public about what was really happening in Vietnam. Of course after it was over the government did everything in their power to discredit them and claim they were liars.” The powerful, slow building fury of “The Heavens Gaze Empty” underscores the statements made by these war vets as they dispose of their awards of battlefield valor.
“The image of throwing the medals back is the refusal to be placated by a trinket when your entire life has been ruined,” says Kaplan. “The parallels between an era supposedly long gone and the wars of today are too blatant to be ignored. Soldiers coming back from Afghanistan and Iraq have also participated in medal throwing ceremonies, although mainstream media will not cover it.”
Medals was produced, performed and mixed by Ben Kaplan. It will be available on limited edition CD and download on November 13, 2012.