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Here\u2019s a possible recipe for success. Start with a three-piece band that enjoys mega success in the 1990s. At the height of their success, they break up, and the drummer eventually starts a new band in which he doesn\u2019t play drums. They make music that sounds not a bit like the drummer\u2019s old band, music that\u2019s equally compelling, but in a different way.<\/p>\n
No, I\u2019m not referring to Nirvana<\/strong>, Dave Grohl<\/strong> and Foo Fighters<\/strong> here. Instead, the 90s band is Ben Folds Five<\/strong>, the drummer is Darren Jessee<\/strong>, and the new not-like-the-old band is Hotel Lights<\/strong>. Here on Girl Graffiti<\/em> (the group\u2019s Content to craft songs that hold up on their own, Hotel Lights crafts songs that draw the listener in; rarely does the band rock out in any sort of traditional sense. Fascinating choices in instrumentation — chamber strings, a splash of banjo \u2013 add to the ambience of songs mostly built around acoustic guitar or piano. Think of Hotel Lights as a sort of low-power pop.<\/p>\n Clever lyrical turns reminiscent of Fountains of Wayne<\/strong> (witness \u201cDave Sharkey to the Dance Floor\u201d) are delivered in such an unassuming manner as to risk their being missed altogether. An intimate you-are-there ambience is the backdrop for those quiet vocals; Jessee seems to ascribe to the idea that you get more attention by whispering than shouting.<\/p>\n The art-pop of \u201cThrough the Crowd\u201d builds and builds, and then soars off into the ether for its last few minutes. The intentionally lo-fi approach on the intro of \u201cMy Pretty Quirk\u201d gives way to a sweeping, cinematic arrangement; didn\u2019t see that one coming. The disc closes with the noir-ish Neil Young-styled \u201cInto the Blue,\u201d a tune of heartbreaking intensity. While bits of distorted electric guitar riffage do pop up from time to time (as on \u201cAll My Asshole Friends\u201d), in total, Girl Graffiti<\/em> is sort of a late-night bedsit album, perhaps best enjoyed alone.<\/p>\n * thanks to several readers who corrected me.<\/p>\nsecond<\/strike> third* <\/em>album) Jessee plays nearly everything but drums. And if Hotel Lights sound like anybody else (and they don\u2019t much) it\u2019s probably Pete Yorn<\/strong>. Jessee\u2019s quiet, unforced vocal delivery recalls Yorn\u2019s musicforthemorningafter<\/em> in its smoldering intensity.<\/p>\n
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