Don't Snooze On Sleeper Agent Opening For Weezer At Horseshoe Casino
By Samantha Abernethy in Arts & Entertainment on Jul 26, 2012 9:00PM
We don't need to tell you why you should go to a Weezer concert, but maybe you're hesitant about traveling to Hammond, In., to catch them at the Horseshoe Casino on Friday. Well, Kentucky rockers Sleeper Agent will be there, too, and the combo is sure to knock your socks off.
Sleeper Agent frontwoman Alex Kandel is just 19 years old. That means she wasn't even alive when Weezer formed in 1992, but she says her parents have video of her singing "Undone" as a little kid. The rest of the bandmembers are in their twenties, and they found Kandel when she was 16 and waiting tables.
The band came out of Bowling Green, Ky., along with friends Cage the Elephant, and Rolling Stone had them on their list of "Bands to watch" in August 2011, just as their album Celabrasion was released.
We caught up with Kandel after the band's set at Forecastle Fest in Louisville, and she told us the band is taking their time working on their next project this fall. When they were asked for the demo to make Celabrasion in 2011, things moved quickly. "I had to leave high school early to do this, and it's just so sad because I was a really good student," Kandel joked.
Kandel has an electric stage presence, worthy of comparisons to Alison Mosshart and Karen O. While you may think her black hair is a nod to the sounds of Joan Jett, it's actually her love of The Ronettes and other sixties girl groups that inspired the dye job.
Alex is also featured as one of six contestants in Rolling Stone's "Women Who Rock" contest. If she makes it to the last round, she'll compete in a battle of the bands in Chicago during Lollapalooza. The ultimate winner will grace the flip-cover of the September issue of Rolling Stone.
So why does Alex deserve to win? The band has compiled a list of reasons on their Twitter page from the extraordinary — "She broke Tony's guitar w her head & finished the show" — to the obvious: She actually sings in a rock band, unlike the other contestants.
"The typical idea of like a band coming up as a rock band is what I've been living for the past year," Kandel told Chicagoist. The finalists for the Women Who Rock contest will be announced on Tuesday, July 31.
Watch videos for "Get Burned" and "Get It Daddy" below. See an acoustic performance of "That's My Baby" on Rolling Stone's artist page.
Sleeper Agent and Weezer perform at 8 p.m. on Friday, July 27 at the Horseshoe Casino, 777 Casino Center Drive, Hammond, Ind.,