This progressive act from Sweden already has three albums in the bag since 2003, this, their fourth is a continuation of the third, Sleeping In Traffic: Part One (surprisingly...). Sleeping In Traffic isn’t supposed to be concept albums, according to vocalist Rikard Sjöblom, just a description of 24 hours in a persons life. Where SIT: Part One was about the day, this one is about the night. Unfortunately, I haven’t heard part one, so it’s a bit difficult for me to describe the continuation of the two albums.

The musical inspiration seems to me to be mainly from (60’s and) 70’s progressive rock bands like Yes, Zappa, Gentle Giant, Camel and others similar, and if they had appeared on the famous Woodstock-festival, they would have fitted well into the bill.

I’m not all too crazy about the sound – the sound of the instruments is very 60’s/70’s-like, good for creating a retro-sound, but generally not my cup of tea (anymore), I think the thing gets a bit too dreary because of it. All instruments are quite clear in the production, so it’s nothing technical that does that this sound doesn’t appeal to me, just my personal taste. If you can imagine a progrock version of Camel with a spice of Zappa and others, and would like to hear how that sounds, go for this one.

The album has very long running time, and I have to admit, that though I’m normally a fan of progressive rock, this album got a bit long for me – the quite complex pieces, and the long individual running time for some of the numbers, does that I can’t keep up the attention for the whole duration of the album.

This is truly experimental, there are lots of soundscapes to relate to, and the complexity of the music does, that it’s not something that sinks in right from the first listen. It’s very able played by all musicians. …but nothing of the above-mentioned quite pull me into the story or the mood, I don’t get carried away by it. The endnote for that must be something like: well, it’s a very good album, well produced and have interesting passages and able playing, but it’s a bit too long and maybe slightly outdated, unless you’re a really faithful retro-rocker….

Check out these addresses for more info:

http://www.myspace.com/sleepingintraffic2

http://www.myspace.com/beardfishband