Hotel

Item: Hotel
Author: Mike Leech

Hotel

(2004)

Reviewed by Mike Leech

Discogs Bandcamp

Label Forge RecordsDecapolisMarch 2004

folk rock indie rock singer-songwriter

Do you ever wish you could listen to Bob Dylan without the chore of contemplating his deeply poetic and inventive lyrics? What if you could enjoy Mr. Dylan's music without having to sit through his timeless and substantive classics? Well if either of these ideas sound appealing to you then you'll be glad to hear that a few young men from Boston calling themselves Hotel have arrived to bridge that gap to mediocrity. Jim Aveni (the primary brains behind Hotel) blended a garden-variety folk rock sound with bland, low risk songwriting to create this exceptionally tedious album.

I'd love to mention a few standout tracks, but I seriously cannot think of one. The album is so mundane, in fact, that if it were a little less polished it might actually be better (if that makes any sense to anyone). My advice for Hotel would be to find an individual style and learn to take a few risks musically. The last thing we need in this digital world where any joe with a guitar and a laptop can hit the big time is another run-of-the-mill album showcasing another run-of-the-mill singer/songwriter, and unfortunately, that's exactly what this is.