DESTINED SOLITAIRE

It must have been a lot of pressure for eclectic retro-rockers Beardfish to follow-up to the critically successful Sleeping in Traffic saga. That they managed to come up with nearly 80 minutes of music only a year after is proof of melodic talents. Whereas Traffic was musically centered on hard rock, blues, funk, fusion and everything in between (tango, accordion), Destined Solitaire is at the same time heavier and more instrumentally challenging (title track, Awaken the Sleeping), and has a more relaxed, bar lounge-y vibe (most other songs).

In hindsight, however, Beardfish would have been better served by refining their songs a bit more. In an industry with often many years between albums, who would have blamed them? All songs have interesting ideas, but some parts wouldn't pass quality control. There is a line between quirky, surprising inserts in songs and them being plain annoying.