Motel Motel “Coffee”
I’m quite a bit late to the game on this one, but I couldn’t help wanting to write about the excellent song “Coffee” by the Brooklyn based band Motel Motel. After growing more than a little disenchanted with the alt-country genre in general, I came back home earlier this year with the great Roadside Graves LP My Son’s Home. Now I can add the stellar Motel Motel LP New Denver to the list of albums that have given me a new lease on the genre. While the whole album, which was re-released by record label The Rebel Group in July, is strong, the standout track is definitely the charging, emotive “Coffee.” The track, which manages to sound both fresh and classic at the same time, is one that hits all the right marks over its five minute length. “Coffee” centers around the usual suspects: love lost, some steel guitar and a stirring, plaintive lead vocal, which seem to build in intensity throughout the track. By the end of the track, you aren’t sure if the singer has buoyed his spirit or completely given up, but either way it is an exciting sounding journey to get there.