You could play the new album from Tony Molina and Sarah Rose Janko all the way through before you finish this review. Maybe. But this isn't a question of quantity. The quality of the songs on In The Store is such that more is done here, in a brief space of time, than other bands do over the course of double-albums.
Following an earlier release of demos in 2021, Tony Molina (OVENS, Slumberland Records) and Sarah Rose Janko (Dawn Riding) have teamed up once again as The Lost Days to offer one of 2023's most engaging and heartfelt records with In The Store. The compositions span a fuzzy lo-fi tunefulness, like "For Today" with its stylistic nods to both Black Tambourine and early GBV, or "What's on Your Mind", a number with a hook like an early Beatles number. The duo embrace the DIY vibe of this stuff, with the whole thing recalling Young Marble Giants in a way, though to my ears, this record is more accessible, and certainly more catchy. There's nothing austere here, is what I'm trying to say.
What strikes me about this brief release is how quickly the selections hit their own individual sweet spots. "In the Store", the lilting title track, has shades of things by Big Star, and it's as elegantly simple as it is affecting. Heck, "Pass the Time" has that same feeling, equal parts Chris Bell and Alex Chilton. Molina and Janko both have voices that transfix, and the whole album is so wonderfully simple and melodic that for me to ramble too much about it is to belabor the very thing that makes it so special.
In the Store by The Lost Days is out tomorrow.
[Photo: Riot Act Media]