Not the result of a collaboration between Derek Dick and Spock's Beard, Beardfish are actually a bunch of Swedish proggers who made their debut on Inside Out twelve months ago with Sleeping In Traffic: Part One. Of course those who haven’t heard the first part are immediately at a disadvantage in trying to delve straight in to whatever concept is going on here; kind of like listening to the second half of The Lamb or The Wall whilst being ignorant of what has gone before. Doesn't really work does it? In any case the concept here is basically set around 24 hours in a persons life (thankfully not in real time or else there would be many more parts still to come), with part two representing the night. 

Beardfish borrow heavily from 70's Genesis, notably on 'Into The Night' with an abundance of style and time changes set against a backdrop of intricate guitars and keyboards. But whilst they are content to wear their hearts on their sleeves the end result breaks no new ground and is ultimately unrewarding. The bass riff from Jeff Wayne's War of The Worlds is recycled on 'The Hunter' which shapes up to be a lengthy instrumental until the vocals kick in. Definitely something of an acquired taste, the Scandavian take on an English accent really fails to come off and this is where Beardfish fall someway short. It goes from bad from worse with some truly hideous spoken word passages on 'South of the Border' and by now you are really beginning to wonder what sort of night the subject of the piece is experiencing. 

Some delightful guitar runs and chunky keys punctuate the Gentle Giant homage 'Cashflow', demonstrating the bands undoubted virtuosity. And with this being an entirely instrumental piece the listener is at least spared the cringe-inducing lyrics that have both gone before and are still to come. 'The Downward Spiral / Chimay' chugs along whilst using the hook line "Wake Up" (although "Switch Off" might have been more appropriate) whilst the pedestrian title track suffers from the prog rock sin of over-indulgence and would have benefited from being trimmed down considerably. 

By the time you have made it through to the end of Sleeping In Traffic there is a palpable sense of relief, and the thought of going through it all again could be likened to wading through treacle. Maybe if it had been released in 1973 it would have been embraced, but thirty five years later there is little place for this kind of bloated excess.

Let us know your views on Sleeping In Traffic Part II

Track Listing

As The Sun Sets
Into The Night
The Hunter
South Of The Border
Cashflow
The Downward Spiral / Chimay
Sleeping In Traffic
Sunrise Again