Sleep Station

Sleep Station (the alter ego of David Debiak) is an act that likes to challenge both the listener and the artist, composing one concept album after another. The kind of album that will inevitably divide listeners into two camps — it’s genius or pretentious nonsense — although until now he’s managed to stay on the right side of the line. That might change with The Pride of Chester James because it doesn’t obviously follow the same template as his earlier records, with the lack of an obvious narrative, although one’s implied via the themes that run throughout several songs. But perhaps he is beginning to see the value in writing songs that stand alone. Either way, there are enough hints that Debiak might be toying with the idea of pop for pop’s sake. With lovely, jangle-y guitars and the odd dalliance with a country twang, Sleep Station have made an album that comes close to striking the perfect balance between pop and plot. No more heavy-handed stories and more emphasis on the songs might be just what they need before making their masterpiece.