Review Summary: Musical Prozac for the Soul.
The selection of Music to serenade you on a road trip can often be a task fraught with danger. Be it a long 4 hour drive through meandering country roads or a short trip to the shops in the City your musical partner must be chosen with care.
Norah Jones? Far to light. Also likely send you to sleep and on to a horrible accident in a ditch.
Appetite Era GnR? Unless you want to develop lead foot and have your family discover the joy's of a closed coffin funeral its not advised
Bullet For My Valentine? What are you 15? Get out of the car you aren't even legally allowed behind the wheel!
Thankfully a happy medium can be found in the debut album by Gold Motel. Spawned from the hiatus of Illinois based The Hush Sound and fronted by the aforementioned group's vocalist Greta Salpeter, Summer House delivers an almost perfect collection of bouncy upbeat indie-pop tunes.
This isn't music to be enjoyed in a sedentary manner, you need to be up and about to gain full appreciation. Laying on your ass will just not cut it. One aspect of the album which drives the point home is the high visibility of the drums in the mix. In Songs like "We're on the Run" or "Stealing the Moonlight" they drive the entire assembly forward without becoming an obnoxious overbearing influence. Combined with Salpeter's peppy vocals its guaranteed to induce much in the way of involuntary head bobbing,
That is not to say every song takes its cue from the Beach Boy's play-book of musical hooks. It does deliver more melon collie moments which can be a tad hit or miss if one was to be honest. The hit coming in the form of "Fireworks After Midnight" the evocative wails of Salpeter and solo guitar bridge inviting you to reminisce about good memories past. The miss being the rather turgid "Where will I be Tonight" which sounds like something you hear in a depressed cabaret club in 1941 Casablanca.
By the time the relatively short 30 minute run time is closed out with the title track, a mixture of the two styles in one quick 3 minute journey you'll be feeling completely unaffected by the crippling city traffic, or the suicidal sheep on the rural highway.
It might be a little late to celebrate the summer now but at least you can evoke the best aspects whenever you throw this on.
