SWAMP RECORD

RECORDED



The Burning Hotels

(Fort Worth, Texas, USA)

Novels (11-song album)

??????????

(7 out of 10)

http://www.swamprecord.com/

The Burning Hotels bouncy 80's drumbeats admirably keep tempos up where few
bands (short of hardcore and speed metal) have gone since DEVO's 1980 hit
"Whip It". Add to that, driving guitar rhythms of "War"-era U2 and
urgent-style singing of New Order, and you would think the resulting mix
would be a pleasing reminiscence for those in their fourth decade of life.



Curiously though, this amalgam, and ones similar are more likely to be hits
where twentysomethings gather. Novel is repetitive enough to appeal to the
dance crowds who want to work themselves up into a lather in the course of
one song, but a few times TBH pleasantly break up the momentum with quirky
drumfills and stop-start action (especially on "First Love" and "Where's My
Girl").



This is the type of album that, when played at a party, will have lots of
people asking what it is, alternately approving and against. -- A.S.