Photo by: Nolan Wiley

On Saturday night, another chapter in Sleepy Vikings‘ storied history comes to an end as the Tampa-based “southern-shoegaze” outfit officially bids farewell to their longtime drummer Ryann Slauson, who is leaving to study sculpture in New York City.  While it isn’t the end of the band or the Vikings’ last show with their effervescent, always smiling drummer (the band plays Antiwarpt Music Festival on July 28), Slauson’s contributions are going to be missed.

SUB AP! CAL: SLEEPY VIKINGS + SLEEPY EYE GIANT + SPIES ON BIKES AT NEW WORLD 07.14.12

“I’m pretty sure the sound will change a lot,” guitarist Julian Conner told our friends at TBT*.  To commemorate and celebrate the bittersweet occasion, Sleep Vikings have been kind enough to share a brand new song titled “Easter Sunday Girls.”

Recorded at the studio of Permanent Makeup’s James Bess, the three-minute cut finds the band at their best (which makes the transition that much harder to think about) with vocalist/keyboardist Tessa McKenna laying  down some of her most memorable melodies on top of a sprawling, characteristically bouncy guitar riff from guitarist/vocalist Julian Conner.  The song is also a great example of the new sonic wrinkles afforded by the addition of Florida Night Heat’s Jensen Kistler to the lineup.  In an email to SubAp!, Slauson explained that the skeleton for the song was crafted while she and Conner were messing around with parts during a break in band practice.

“[We] were inside just playing some random stuff and he came up with this part I really liked,” she wrote, “we got really into it and somehow wrote almost an entire structure in what seemed like a few minutes.”  The band then proceeded to walk in and a new song was born.

“Jensen added these great little guitar lines and Tessa wrote some of the best vocal stuff ever,” said Slauson.  ”The song just worked itself out and turned out to be one of my favorites.”  So how does Slauson feel about saying fare thee well to her longtime band and friends?

“I’ll be crying on Saturday night,” she wrote, “so bring me tissues.”

Have a look at Slauson’s full note to SubAp! and listen to “Easter Sunday Girls” below.  Get more information on her farewell show (where there will be super limited edition cassettes) at our calendar page.

Sleepy Vikings – “Easter Sunday Girls” (SubAp! Premiere)

I am extremely bittersweet about my decision to move and leave Sleepy Vikings, who are some of my best friends and the people I have known the longest since I moved to Tampa in 2006. playing music, traveling and hanging out for the last (almost) three years with this band has been the greatest thing I could have asked for.

I am so grateful and and honored to have been part of something this special. despite the changes and difficulties that occurred throughout, it has been nothing but amazing to travel up and down the east coast (and all the way up to Canada), playing weird and great and strange shows, seeing tons of amazing and awful bands and making new friends all over the place. Leaving this band is a heartbreaking decision, almost like I am breaking up with my boyfriend (who happens to be 4 other people) but sadly I think it’s the right choice for me and what I want to do with my future.

I will be crying on Saturday night so bring me tissues.

- Sleepy Vikings’ Ryann Slauson