Thursday, April 29, 2010

Surfing Waves of Heartbreak with Gold Motel



The pop song lives!

Greta Morgan (late of Chicago's The Hush Sound, who I must confess I never heard of until last week) and her new group, Gold Motel, recall the piano-based melodicism of the three Bens - Folds, Kweller and Lee. The songs are steeped in heartbreak and the possibility of romance, but getting your heart stomped never sounded so good. Imagine a less wobbly She & Him or a less self-conscious Rilo Kiley, and you'll get a sense of Gold Motel's new wave meets Brill Building shotgun wedding.

There are five songs on their debut EP, called EP (!), and I can't pick a favorite. Is it the girl group kiss-off of "Don't Send The Searchlights"? The bouncy, piano-driven kiss-off of the faded lover in "The Cruel One"? The smoldering torch song "Who Will I Be Tonight?" The rollicking plea of "Make Me Stay"? The unstoppable bounce of "Perfect in My Mind"? The answer is yes. But I say wait a few weeks and spring for their debut full length, Summer House, due out June 1. Maybe then you'll have ten favorites to pick from (and all 5 songs from EP are included). You can order it here.


Gold Motel appears at Connie's Ric Rac (1132 S. 9th St., Philadelphia), this Saturday, May 1.

Gold Motel - Perfect In My Mind
Gold Motel - Make Me Stay

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