Hotels 'On the Casino Floor' – Groovemine

Excerpt: “Most times a band of any kind is made up of people who all basically want to play a certain kind of music. So many genres, they normally have similar influences and similar sounds which all form together to make a punk band, or an electro-pop band, or even a marching band for that matter. In the case of Hotels’ newest release, On the Casino Floor, that age-old formula doesn’t seem to apply. Hotels founder Blake Madden provides post-punk basslines and vocals that seem to have been influenced by The Strokes. Add surfy and psychy guitarlines with a new wave synth and what you’re left with is a very different kind of listening experience. What’s even more intriguing than that? It actually works. Pretty well, for that matter…. On the whole, the songwriting of On the Casino Floor is clever and original. The electro influence present in On the Casino Floor is like gas is to the automobile. Alone, On the Casino Floor looks nice and can be admired, but it’s the synth that really takes you places. My only real gripe is how short the album was. Only seven tracks (one of which is a minute long instrumental) left me wanting more. That being said, Seattle-based Hotels is proof that not all roads lead to Brooklyn.”

Groovemine