I’d been after this album for a while, so you can probably imagine my glee when I walked into a Hot Topic store in Bradenton, Florida, and managed to find the re-released version (complete with extra tracks) on sale for just $11 (a little more than £6). My Hotel Year, on this release anyway, are a pearler of a pop-punk band, coming across like ‘Blue Skies…’ era The Ataris with dashes of bands like Midtown. It’s a heady mix which results in plenty of catchy hooks and buzzsaw guitars, meaning ‘The Curse’ is a fun blast of eleven slick pop-punk anthems-in-waiting.
The Orlando band didn’t really get that much success from this CD – released well over a year ago – which is a shame, because it’s better than a lot of bands that peddle this kind of sound. ‘Strongest Man Alive‘ is an absolute gem – one of the strongest pop-punk tracks I’ve heard for ages and ages – while ‘Everyday’ and ‘Not Bad (For A Ninja)’ have hooks the size of France. My Hotel Year never really vary from the tried and tested formula of catchy hooks and infectious lyrics. The vocals are quite fast and high-pitched, so they add a reasonably unique edge. ‘Breathing Patterns’ is another impressive song too, showing a band that have more than one side to them. This was released a bit back now, but it’s not aged and fans of Fallout Boy and the like should really add this to their collection.
www.myhotelyear.com
Doghouse
Paul