With Chicago being America’s leading non-coastal exporter of culture, it’s little surprise that it would produce a band like Sleepwalk. Formed in 2015, Sleepwalk plays a brand of propulsive, shoegaze-indebted alt rock that owes as much to classic post-hardcore as it does to contemporary nu gaze giants like Nothing and Whirr or 90s space rock trailblazers like Failure and Hum. For every bit of reverb drenched guitar, there’s equal parts pounding low end that would make Quicksand and their legions of devotees proud. Centered around founding member Ryan Davis (guitar/vocals), Sleepwalk’s current lineup coalesced in February of 2025 with Tyler Gargula (guitar), Vic Ordonez (bass) and Marcus Johnson (drums) entering the fold.

Sleepwalk have had a busy decade, releasing several singles, EPs and full lengths, each one further iterating upon the band’s sonic guiding principle: In the band’s own words, “heavy music for the lighthearted.” And that’s an apt description. On the band’s most recent effort, 2024’s Out Of Focus, Sleepwalk contrasts thoughtful songwriting and abundant atmosphere with a crushing wall of sound that highlights their natural dynamism. Pair that with the band’s penchant for reflective lyricism that explores existentialism and the complexity of the human condition, and the result is both visceral and cerebral in equal measure.

Having shared stages with likeminded aural boundary pushers such as Thursday, The World Is A Beautiful Place And I Am No Longer Afraid To Die, Glassjaw and Nothing, it’s apparent that Sleepwalk fits tidily into a rich ecosystem of modern musicians turning classic sounds on their heads. Like so many of their lyrical themes, Sleepwalk reflects on the past with the knowledge that it can never be recreated. What they offer instead is a contemporary vision of what once was filtered through the lens of what could be. And whatever that vision may be, it’s one thing above all else: Loud.