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Paste Magazine Gives Gold Motel 8 out of 10
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Ah, the ever-elusive “perfect summer record.” Every year, every time spring gives way to blistering ...Ah, the ever-elusive “perfect summer record.” Every year, every time spring gives way to blistering heat, the search for the next best soundtrack to summer recommences.
This summer, Chicago-by-way-of-Los Angeles quintet Gold Motel is making a strong stand for the title, at least in the pop category. The band’s 12-track, self-titled sophomore release surges with pretty girl-boy harmonies and vintage reverb effects, and yet, it’s all grounded with an indie practicality.
Singer/keyboardist Greta Morgan originally conceived Gold Motel as a solo project after her previous band The Hush Sound went on hiatus in 2009. What resulted, however, was an amalgamation of other Chicago musicians from other bands, with Dan Duszynski (guitar, vocals), Matt “Minx” Schuessler (bass) and Adam Coldhouse (drums) from This Is Me Smiling, as well as Eric Hehr (guitar) from The Yearbooks joining her on the band’s 2010’s debut, Summer House.
Now as a cohesive unit, Gold Motel has nearly perfected the art of bright, nostalgic pop songs. Morgan’s vocals ring clear and unpretentious as she and the boys tell stories about busking in subway stations (“Musicians”), staying in Southern California (“Santa Cruz”) and hanging on to youth and love (the excellent closer “Leave You In Love”). Even if some tracks delve into surprisingly darker subject matter (such as opener “Brand New Kind of Blue,” which was inspired by a book on near-death experiences), the album as a whole still exudes a gold-sheened summery glow.
Overall, Gold Motel stands out as a non-guilty pop pleasure that will leave hip listeners singing, dancing and apologizing, “Sorry, I’m not sorry.”
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Consequence of Sound Reviews Gold Motel
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Making it in the take-no-prisoners world of rock and roll can be a grind, and understandably so, con...Making it in the take-no-prisoners world of rock and roll can be a grind, and understandably so, considering the nonstop cycle of recording and touring that so many bands are forced to endure as a means of survival. Then, there are bands like Gold Motel, who (at least on the surface) appear to handle the rigors of being a mid-level band like a skip through the park.
The Chicago group’s free-spirited approach is a sunny respite from so many of its indie rock counterparts. You know the ones, the bands who either insist on wearing their endlessly toured hardship on their sleeves, or are too busy trying to posture themselves as being cool to care. Gold Motel, the band’s newly released, self-titled effort, proves, if nothing else, that there is a place to be claimed in the indie subculture between agitation and apathy. And, as it turns out, it’s a pretty swell place to be.
The 12 tracks contained within Gold Motel are so light and airy that they almost beg to be swept away by a sharp wind gust. But even in its more somber, heartbroken moments (“These Sore Eyes”), the record is all warmth and sunshine, frolicking through indie, twee pop, doo wop, and ’60s-style pop rock with infectious ease. “Brand New Kind of Blue” starts things off with Greta Morgan’s sweet, chanteuse vocal stylings, one of the record’s hallmarks and strengths. The xylophones that highlight the mid-temp jangle pop of “In Broad Daylight” further the record’s irrepressible cheerfulness, while “Your Own Ghost”, buoyed by a boogie, New Wave bass line, and an “ooh, ooh, ooh” chorus breakdown, briefly chucks the album’s pleasant naivete just long enough to give the record a healthy dose of fun swagger. The rest of Gold Motel drifts along with similarly placid assurance.
There are moments where the record’s perpetual sunniness leave you asking for shade, but those moments are fleeting at best. Gold Motel is in the truest sense a feel-good record, one perfectly suited for the mellow, hazy days it reaches so far to recreate.
Essential Tracks: “These Sore Eyes”, “In Broad Daylight”
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Gold Motel in CMJ
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If you were to take a typical California road trip and distill it into one album of music, this woul...If you were to take a typical California road trip and distill it into one album of music, this would be it. A road trip is not all sunshine and happiness. There has to be a reason you want to get away, an initial longing for something more. At this crossroads between excitement, adventure and melancholy, Gold Motel
resides.
Very much like fellow indie-poppers Los Campesinos!, there is a disconnect between the tone of the music and the lyrical message in Gold Motel’s music. The reverb-heavy guitars and jumpy drums would sound at home on a California beach in late June. But if someone chimed in with the lyrics without singer Greta Morgan’s saccharine voice, the cheery summer vibes would quickly take a dark turn. Seriously, no other singer could make a song called “Cold Shoulders” sound so cheery.
It’s no surprise that the Gold Motel sound was formed when Morgan, a Chicago native, moved to Los Angeles, where the group now spends quite a bit of time. The simple instrumentation and catchy pop hooks are reminiscent of times when a band meant guitar, bass, drums, vocals and nothing else. Maybe keyboard if you were getting crazy. The simple sound really works for them; the band is very tight, and Morgan’s voice pops out over beachy rock guitar.
Gold Motel’s debut album, 2010's Summer House, was a beautiful ode to a relaxed summer lifestyle, but it had nowhere near the emotional weight of the new release. While the band’s debut contained tracks like “Perfect In My Mind,” “Safe In L.A.” and “Fireworks After Midnight,” the group has traded awe for disillusionment. Now, titles like “These Sore Eyes” and “Cold Shoulders” show that the group can do more than cheer. Like a marriage that has exited its honeymoon stage, the flaws in what initially seemed perfect have begun to show.
The album comes out of the gates roaring, wasting no time to drive home the main point: This whole summer lifestyle is not without its drawbacks. When the sun goes down, people fall “in and out of love” and friends become “musicians in the subway station.” There is in fact a dark side to the glitz and road trips. Gold Motel’s debut showed its sense of wonder, and this album demonstrates what happens to that wonder after a few years.
In the final track, “Leave You In Love,” Morgan sings a line that sums up her experience with her West Coast, relaxed lifestyle. The line can also easily sum up the band’s shift in tone. “We didn’t change, we didn’t move on,” she says. “We just moved away.”
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Gold Motel in the Windy City
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I could describe Gold Motel’s self-titled sophomore effort with words such as “summery,” “breezy” an...I could describe Gold Motel’s self-titled sophomore effort with words such as “summery,” “breezy” and “upbeat,” and it would all be true. But since every other write-up on them seems to use those words—and I don’t really think it gives full justice to what the band has to offer--I’m instead going to focus on another adjective: bittersweet.
We all know that too much sugar is bad for you. Whenever you go for the double fudge caramel sundae it might taste pretty good when you’re eating it, but after you’re done chances are you feel a bit empty and uneasy. The same can be said about music; sugary can be good, but too sugary just leaves you longing for more sustenance. Gold Motel seem to know this, as evidenced by their tendency to balance sweet, instantly pleasing melodies with the perfect touch of bitterness, sadness, or longing. I think that’s why I can latch onto a Gold Motel song so easily while being indifferent to one from a band like Best Coast. The music comes from a similar sunshiney place, but Gold Motel inject a lot more soul and believability into it (in addition to simply being better songwriters).
The quintet begin the new record with “Brand New Kind of Blue,” a satisfying helping of three-minute power pop exemplifying their mastery of the bittersweet. An earworm guitar melody starts it off before the bright vocals of Greta Morgan come in to tell us about “drifting in a brand new kind of blue” and hoping that she’s “only passing through.” It's a fantastic opener.
“These Sore Eyes” and “Musicians” sound similarly lively, and are also similarly based in reality in terms of lyrics. The former pairs a ‘60s guitar-pop vibe with words of longing and heartbreak, while the latter deals with the unfair reality of many talented people; “Most of my friends are musicians in the subway station / Making amends with the dark, indifferent world,” guitarist Dan Duszynski sings in his sole lead vocal on the record.
Gold Motel also finds the band a bit more adventurous than on their 2010 debut Summer House. “Cold Shoulders” (a definite highlight which devoted fans will have heard before as the A side to a previous vinyl single release), while still in firmly in the pop realm, takes a bit more aggressive approach than nearly all their other material; more New York than L.A., maybe. “At Least We Tried” further explores that territory. “Your Own Ghost” has them playing with a smooth, almost dancey beat along with more cryptic lyrics than usual, and on “Counter Clockwise” they even dabble in hazy, spacey atmospherics.
I was an instant fan of Summer House and still play it often, but Gold Motel have managed to top themselves on their latest; their self-titled comes across as a bit more cohesive while at the same time expanding the palette for a more colorful collection of songs. It might be the most fun record you hear all summer, but it's got enough substance that you probably won't want to shelf it once you have to trade the shorts and flip-flops for the winter coat.
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GRETA goes SOLO
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Most know her as the exquisite vocalist from The Hush Sound, but soon everyone will recognize her as...Most know her as the exquisite vocalist from The Hush Sound, but soon everyone will recognize her as a creative and remarkable individual. We got the chance to catch up with the talented songstress and find out more about her upcoming solo album and what future plans she has.
We heard about your upcoming solo debut. What exactly have you been up to the past while?
Since The Hush Sound declared our hiatus in April of this year, my routine was as follows: writing, recording, throwing it all away, re-writing, re-recording, and finally reaching a sense of excitement with the material. I went to Chicago in September to track the album with my good friend Dan Duzynski (This Is Me Smiling).
Dan and and I built a makeshift studio in the house where I grew up, since it was cleared out and ready to be put on the market for sale. I had always wanted to record drums in the living room because of the high ceilings and record piano on the one I grew up playing.
How was working with Forgive Durden on Razia’s Shadow: A Musical? What do you think of the album and it’s storyline as a whole?
Thomas is a great friend and I was so flattered when he offered me the part of ‘the rebellious princess’, that I agreed to the part without hearing a note of the piece. When I heard the musical, I was impressed with the arrangements and the story. I admire the huge creative undertaking on his part.
Do you think you would ever create your own musical like that in the future? If so, what would it be about and which musicians would you approach to join you?
I’d rather write a short film and compose the film score for it. A musical may happen one day though as it would make my Broadway-enthusiast Dad very happy.
In regards to your upcoming solo record, does it have a title yet?
It doesn’t have a title yet, though I’m tossing around some ideas like, “Meet Me at the Gold Motel” or “Get a Room” or something equally campy. It may end up being self-titled
Why did you choose to go under the name Gold Motel?
Friends and I wrote down adjectives and nouns on slips of paper and drew combinations from a hat. We pulled ‘Gold Motel’ and it sort of chimed when we said it. Also, my middle name is Morgan, so Gold Motel has the same initials as my name, which seemed a good sign.
You’ve said before your solo work sounds a bit upbeat and summery with a 60s’ pop tinge. Is this still true?
Since I moved to California, I’ve been worshiping Brian Wilson, devouring the Beach Boy musical box sets and learning much of the material. Many songwriters agree that we would trade our souls to write a new “God Only Knows”. The other most obvious musical influences are The Kinks, The Beatles, Fleetwood Mac, Motown recordings, T-Rex, and Peter, Paul, and Mary.
In the literary world, I’ve been influenced by “Revolutionary Road” by Richard Yates, the poetry of Frank O’Hara and Ted Hughes, John Cheever and Truman Capote short stories, and the TV show Mad Men.
I’ve also been eating a coconut every day for breakfast. That might be an influence. Thought you should know.
Since you play multiple instruments, did you record each part on the album?
I was trying to get away from piano, since I played it so heavily on The Hush Sound’s records, so I wrote most of these songs on guitar. On the Gold Motel record, I play wurlitzer, organ, toy pianos, old keyboards, and just a tiny bit of plain piano. Dan played drums/guitar, and our friend Matt played bass. On collaborations: Dan and I wrote a duet together which we’re hoping to finish for this album. Other than that, I may have a last minute collaboration with someone. We’ll have to wait and see!
What are the tracks on the solo record about?
Since the last album I made, I’ve had a rollercoaster of highs and lows. I traveled to India, Japan, toured the country a handful of times, was changed forever by new friends, and learned much about songwriting. On a sadder note, I dealt with the deaths of some friends and family and the band’s emotional decision to put things on hold. I tried to capture the adrenaline-rushing moments of new love, the times of overwhelming awe, the disappointment of rejection, the sharp edge of jealousy, the sorrow of loss. Will this all be apparent to listeners? I’ll never really know, but to me it’s a scrapbook of everything I’ve experienced. And I think the album is hopeful overall.
Do you have any plans to tour soon? If so, will you ever make a trip to Toronto to meet your Canadian fans?
I’m focused on finishing the album right now, but will soon be submitting for spring tours. I love Canada and would love to play in Toronto as soon as I can! Party at your house after the show?
Definitely! Maybe you can handle the music? What artists have you really been into lately?
I spend most of my time listening to ‘old fogey music’, but the modern acts I like are Of Montreal, Dirty Projectors, Vampire Weekend, Air, Broadcast, Sharon Jones and The Dap Kings, and The Flaming Lips. Also, I’m looking forward to Phrazes For The Young, solo project of Julian Casablancas from The Strokes.
Have you kept in touch with any of the guys of The Hush Sound? Can fans hope for a possible reunion sometime soon?
All my energies are currently focused into launching Gold Motel, but the door is still open to, well, the Hush Sound motel. Bob is also working on solo material (themanwhocriedwolf.com). Like any relationship, we reached a point where we needed to look outside our alliance for some inspiration and creative output.
It takes a lot of passion to step aside from a certain spotlight and do something different when it comes to music. What does music mean to you?
I’m a music lover first and a musician second. Listening to great records is like a religious experience. Basically, music is my Jesus. I’m hoping that if I worship these great songs and albums enough, I’ll write something that’ll last as long, at least to someone.
supersonic
