Grief takes you on a journey. All the memories rise up in a wave of sweet and bitter nostalgia to wash over you in a relentless cascade of pain and pleasure. You lie upon the cold sand beach to stare up into a sky moving from star filled midnight blue to California dawn like a woolen blanket is being removed from your eyes. The Lost Days’ In The Store is your soundtrack for that dark night and new day.
Even before I read that Tony Molina and Sarah Rose Janko of The Lost Days comforted each other with writing these songs after the loss of their mutual friend, I could feel this common thread of loss. Each track is soaked with the same jangle pop, punk and psychedelia spirits that were conjured from bands such as The Stone Roses, The La’s, and The House of Love. Donovan would agree with me that Janko’s voice is that perfect balance between laughter and weep, a nurturing comiseration of dreamy lyrics and shoegaze melody. You can tell from the first chords that this tone was in Molina’s heart as they crafted these songs. I imagined a room with just the two, in the small hours with a 8-track for witness, as they shared these feelings with each other.
The title track and single, “In The Store”, is about those emotions of hitting bottom and swimming up to breathe again while drowning in alcoholism. Melody and harmonies to raise you from your stupor and cast out those cavorting daemons of drink, even if your friends do not stop. Keep going to the meetings but, keep this song in mind to help you take it one day at a time.
The Lost Days has a sound that is needed for such times as these where grief seems to be a daily occurance. Whether you find solace in friends or solitude, these songs are a welcome companion to a road that is more rough than smooth.
The album In The Store releases on March 17, 2023 on Speakeasy Studios SF. Music videos for “For Today” and “In The Store” are available on the Speakeasy Studios SF YouTube channel. The Lost Days album is available for download and vinyl on Bandcamp.