Days Between Stations are a progressive rock band from Los Angeles, founded by guitarist Sepand Samzadeh and keyboard player Oscar Fuentes, and named after the novel by Steve Erickson. The duo are the core of the group, although they do have a cast of musicians who contribute parts to the album as well. Stylistically, you can hear bits of early Porcupine Tree, Pink Floyd, King Crimson, and Tangerine Dream throughout this self-titled CD, all of which come into play on the sprawling opening cut "Requiem For the Living", a 13-minute tour-de-force of menacing progressive rock, highlighted by Fuentes' array of spacey keyboard sounds, layered guitar tones from Samzadeh, and scorching slide guitar from guest Jeremy Castillo. Samzadeh's blistering lead work on "Either/Or" recalls early 70's David Gilmour, and with haunting Fender Rhodes and bubbling synths from Fuentes, you could swear this cut was a lost track from Animals or Dark Side of the Moon.
Ripples of effects laden guitar & keyboard washes permeate the space rock gem "How To Seduce a Ghost", while the new wave-meets-prog "Radio Song" provides the CD's most upbeat and bouncy arrangement. "Laudanum" is the album's closing 22-minute multi-part epic, and a pretty sinister one at that. Kicking off with some smoky sax lines from Jason Hemmens and a mix of jazz & metallic guitar leads from Castillo and Samzadeh, this one combines space rock, jazz, heavy rock, and prog for one long and adventurous ride. Fuentes puts his array of synths to good use on this one, creating plenty of haunting soundscapes and chilling atmosphere.
The colorful and informative digipack lists all the musicians on each track, and what instruments & effects they used, making for an interesting read as you try to decipher all the neat sounds that are floating around this mostly instrumental release. Days Between Stations have put together a very stimulating debut here, one that should be a much talked about prog release here in the latter part of 2007.
Track Listing
1) Requiem For the Living
2) Either/Or
3) Intermission 1
4) How to Seduce a Ghost
5) Radio Song
6) Intermission 2
7) Laudanum
Part I: A Long Goodbye
Part II: Every One Is Here But You
Part III: Nowhere
Part IV: The Wake
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