History Music / SleepytimeGorillaMuseum

* Grand Opening and Closing! (2001)
* Of Natural History (2004)
* In Glorious Times (2007)

Sleepytime Gorilla Museum (often abbreviated to SGM) was an American experimental rock band, formed in 1999 in Oakland, California. The band fused contemporary classical, industrial, and art rock characteristics into a very idiosyncratic melange. Though thoroughly outside the mainstream of popular rock music, the band received high critical acclaim for their ability to combine diverse musical elements in nuanced and complex ways, often incorporating advanced theoretical considerations, while avoiding either [[TrueArtIsIncomprehensible ostentatious 'artiness']] or ironic [[{{Postmodernism}} po-mo pastiche]] and remaining eminently [[RuleOfFun listenable for mere enjoyment]].

Lyrically they were very kitchen sink, as befitting a group lacking one predominant songwriter, though an overall thematic of [[{{Absurdism}} absurdity and concomitant humour]] permeates most of the band's work. A strong [[DoingItForTheArt literary and artistic sensibility]] informed the band's dispensations on topics such as subjectivity, (anti)humanism, and (anti)realism, though you'll [[GeniusBonus never hear those words uttered]] [[{{Symbolism}} in the songs themselves]]; and their frequent [[ShownTheirWork quotations from, citations of, and allusions to]] various figures and sources, from ''James Joyce'', to ''G.W.F. Hegel'', to ''Louise Bourgeois'', and ''the Unabomber'', combined with the occasional BilingualBonus, reward careful and detail-oriented appreciation without [[ViewersAreGeniuses demanding it up front as the price of admission]].

* NeoclassicalPunkZydecoRockabilly: Also, to a large extent, GenreBusting.

* UncommonTime: A staple of their [[NeoclassicalPunkZydecoRockabilly experimental rock/metal]] style. The work on their first album was said by the Pitchfork to resemble a mixture of Music/LascaillesShroud, Music/{{Meshuggah}} and Secret Chiefs 3.

* MohsScaleOfRockAndMetalHardness: Their music goes all over, occasionally crossing as high as 8 or so on songs like ''Helpless Corpses Enactment'' or ''The Donkey-Headed Adversary of Humanity Opens The Discussion'', and dipping down as low as 1 on tracks like ''Sunflower''.
** One song, the 14-minute ''Babydoctor'', [[MoodWhiplash runs the gamut]], beginning in a dreamy 2 as the band whisperly intones a refrain of "''Thank You, Thank You, Thank You...''", and ending in a nerve-shredding 8 or 9 as Nils bellows in a vicious death metal snarl about being raped(/replaced) by the "light" in Enlightenment over tortured violin, warped guitar, and staggering rhythm.

Known for bringing a sense of performance art to their live act, the band (dressed in homemade costumes and makeup) would engage in elaborate stage shows including [[ItRunsOnNonsensoleum pseudoscientific demonstrations]], the telling of apocryphal stories about [[{{Dada}} dadaists]], and packing up and leaving the stage before returning to continue playing, often inviting the audience to participate in various ways.

* UncommonTime: A staple of their [[NeoclassicalPunkZydecoRockabilly experimental rock/metal]] style. The work on their first album was said by the Pitchfork to resemble a mixture of {{Meshuggah}} and Secret Chiefs 3.
* WordSaladLyrics: The lyrics of ''Helpless Corpses Enactment'' are a series of direct quotations from ''James Joyce'''s infamous novel ''Finnegans Wake'', known for its radical linguistic experimentation and total abandonment of the conventions of plot and character construction. A selection quoted within the song, for example:

** One song, the 14-minute ''Babydoctor'', [[MoodWhiplash runs the gamut]], beginning in a dreamy 2 as the band whisperly intones a refrain of "''Thank You, Thank You, Thank You...''", and ending in a nerve-shredding 8 or 9 as Nils bellows in a vicious death metal snarl about being raped(/replaced) by the "light" in En(light)enment over tortured violin, warped guitar, and staggering rhythm.

** One song, the 14-minute ''Babydoctor'', [[MoodWhiplash runs the gamut]], beginning in a dreamy 2 as the band whisperly intones a refrain of "''Thank You, Thank You, Thank You...''", and ending in a nerve-shredding 8 or 9 as Nils bellows in a vicious death metal snarl about being raped(/replaced) by the "light" in Enlightenment over tortured violin, warped guitar, and staggering rhythm.

** One song, the 14-minute ''Babydoctor'', [[MoodWhiplash runs the gamut]], beginning in a dreamy 2 as the band whisperly intones a refrain of "''Thank You, Thank You, Thank You...''", and ending in a nerve-shredding 8 or 9 as Nils bellows in vicious death metal snarling about being raped(/replaced) by the "light" in Enlightenment over tortured violin, warped guitar, and staggering rhythm.

Sleepytime Gorilla Museum (often abbreviated to SGM) was an American experimental rock band, formed in 1999 in Oakland, California. The band fused contemporary classical, industrial, and art rock characteristics into a very idiosyncratic melange. Though thoroughly outside the mainstream of popular rock music, the band received high critical acclaim for their ability to combine diverse musical elements in interesting and complex ways, often incorporating advanced theoretical considerations, while avoiding either [[TrueArtIsIncomprehensible ostentatious 'artiness']] or ironic [[{{Postmodernism}} po-mo pastiche]] and remaining eminently [[RuleOfFun listenable for mere enjoyment]].

** One song, the 14-minute ''Babydoctor'', runs the gamut, beginning in a dreamy 2 as the band whisperly intones a refrain of "''Thank You, Thank You, Thank You...''", and ending in a nerve-shredding 8 or 9 as Nils bellows in vicious death metal snarling about being raped(/replaced) by the "light" in Enlightenment over tortured violin, warped guitar, and staggering rhythm.

* RomanticismVersusEnlightenment: Their second full-length release, ''Of Natural History'', is a concept album exploring this theme. Arguably the band's [[AccentuateTheNegative darkest]] work, its various tracks include mocking paeans against Christianity (''A Hymn to the Morning Star''), songs which threaten humanity with annihilatory violence (''The Donkey-Headed Adversary of Humanity Opens the Discussion'', ''Bring Back The Apocalypse''), venomous lyricisations of murderous technophobic terrorism (''FC: The Freedom Club''), and songs about the alienating effects of a consummate technorationalistic enlightenment culture (''Phthisis'', ''The Creature'', ''Babydoctor''). Despite all that, the album as a whole doesn't particularly come down on the {{Romanticism}} side, so much as it comes down hard and heavy on the [[SlidingScaleOfidealismVersusCynicism Cynicism]] side.

[[caption-width-right:320:[-''[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3R_1KX61vg&hd=1 Este recuerdo guarda su alma / Su alma guarda esta tumba. / ¡Dios guarda su cuerpo / Su cuerpo guarda su aliento! / Behold the breath of the Dragon / ¡Mira el brillo del cuchillo!]]''-] ]]

* RomanticismVersusEnlightenment: Their second full-length release, ''Of Natural History'', is a concept album exploring this theme. Arguably the band's [[AccentuateTheNegative darkest]] work, its various tracks include mocking paeans against Christianity (''A Hymn to the Morning Star''), songs which threaten humanity with annihilatory violence (''The Donkey-Headed Adversary of Humanity Opens the Discussion'', ''Bring Back The Apocalypse''), vituperative celebrations of murderous technophobic terrorism (''FC: The Freedom Club''), and songs about the alienating effects of a consummate technorationalistic enlightenment culture (''Phthisis'', ''The Creature'', ''Babydoctor''). Despite all that, the album as a whole doesn't particularly come down on the {{Romanticism}} side, so much as it comes down hard and heavy on the [[SlidingScaleOfidealismVersusCynicism Cynicism]] side.

* RomanticismVersusEnlightenment: Their second full-length release, ''Of Natural History'', is a concept album exploring this theme. Arguably the band's [[AccentuateTheNegative darkest]] work, its various tracks include mocking paeans against Christianity (''A Hymn to the Morning Star''), songs which threaten humanity with annihilatory violence (''The Donkey-Headed Adversary of Humanity Opens the Discussion'', ''Bring Back The Apocalypse''), vituperative celebrations of murderous technophobic terrorism (''FC: The Freedom Club''), and songs about the alienating effects of a consummate technorationalistic enlightenment culture (''The Creature'', ''Babydoctor''). Despite all that, the album as a whole doesn't particularly come down on the {{Romanticism}} side, so much as it comes down hard and heavy on the [[SlidingScaleOfidealismVersusCynicism Cynicism]] side.

Lyrically they were very kitchen sink, as befitting a group lacking one predominant songwriter, though an overall thematic of [[{{Absurdism}} absurdity and concomitant humour]] permeates most of the band's work. A strong [[DoingItForTheArt literary and artistic sensibility]] informed the band's dispensations on topics such as subjectivity, (anti)humanism, and (anti)realism, though you'll [[GeniusBonus never hear those words uttered]] [[{{Symbolism}} in the songs themselves]]; and their frequent [[ShownTheirWork quotations from, citations of, and allusions to]] various figures and sources, from ''James Joyce'', to ''G.W.F. Hegel'', to ''Dylan Thomas'', and ''the Unabomber'', combined with the occasional BilingualBonus, reward careful and detail-oriented appreciation without [[ViewersAreGeniuses demanding it up front as the price of admission]].

Lyrically they were very kitchen sink, as befitting a group lacking one predominant songwriter, though an overall thematic of [[{{Absurdism}} absurdity and concomitant humour]] permeates most of the band's work. A strong [[DoingItForTheArt literary and artistic sensibility]] informed the band's dispensations on topics such as subjectivity, (anti)humanism, and (anti)realism, though you'll [[GeniusBonus never hear those words uttered]] [[{{Symbolism}} in the songs themselves]]; and their frequent [[ShownTheirWork quotations from, citations of, and allusions to]] various figures and sources, from ''James Joyce'', to ''G.W.F. Hegel'', to ''Dylan Thomas'', and ''the Unabomber'', combined with the occasional BilingualBonus, reward careful and detailed appreciation without [[ViewersAreGeniuses demanding it up front as the price of admission]].

Known for bringing a sense of performance art to their live act, the band (dressed in homemade costumes and makeup) would engage in elaborate stage shows including [[ItRunsOnNonsensoleum pseudoscientific demonstrations]], the telling of apocryphal stories about [[{{Dada}} dadaists]], and packing up and leaving the stage before returning to continue to perform, often inviting the audience to participate in various ways.