Decortica – Love Hotel
Primarily in Japanese culture, a love hotel serves as a space available for consumers to purchase a private room in a public space for a brief amount of time to engage in romantic behavior. This intriguing and most likely unfamiliar comfort is the concept around which alternative rockers Decortica have built their second full length album, Love Hotel. Here, the trio from Auckland, New Zealand, showcases their skill as highly capable songwriters and talent as musicians over the span of six densely layered compositions spanning from unrelenting guitar led assaults to expansive sonic passages steeped in delicate melodies.
Decortica’s brief, yet utterly stunning affair begins with the snappy and ever flowing “Shinkansen.” Immediately, front man and guitarist Mathew Bosher makes his presence known with his ever evolving guitar playing and distinctive croon. Supplementing the record’s speedy opening, bassist Antoinette Lee and skins masher Daniel Bosher prove themselves worthy of acknowledgment as both create a rock steady backbone for the group to share from. “Shinkansen” is truly a tune of halves. The first half is blistering, up-tempo madness but tasteful enough to root itself into one’s ears for lengths on end. After the initial bombast, the piece melts into a serene bridge demonstrating the trio’s ability to create a mesmerizing atmosphere before allowing the song to build one last time.
Following closely in the opener’s footsteps is the moody “Eros.” Steadily egged along by the tuneful low-end of Lee, the track continually blooms, getting wilder as the times slips by. After the midpoint of the tune, the band is in full force, offering muscular guitar passages and on point drumming. “Eros” is a composition that unfolds spectacularly, while channeling a sonic delivery similar to the Deftones as Decortica is capable of threading the line between hushed contemplation and deafening discontentment. After the restrained aggression of “Eros” comes a completely unbridled onslaught of guitar to introduce first single, “Monster in a Pretty Dress.” Seconds after the composition begins, evident is the fact that when Decortica wants to rock, they have more than enough chops to stand with the heavyweights. The majority of the song develops more along the lines of a moderately accessible alternative rock piece, reflecting the trio’s intelligent decision to release this tune first. In a fair universe, “Monster in a Pretty Dress” would annihilate radio stations attuned to heavier alternative rock.
One of the glowing characteristics of Love Hotel is the record’s concise presentation, offering a package of six compositions. Generally, music fans would be taken aback by such a tiny number but the statement of “…all killer, no filler” fits this scenario perfectly as each song averages about five minutes in running time, with not a single piece overstaying their welcome. Without a doubt, this is a concept album utterly headstrong in avoiding any trace of pretension and Love Hotel is a much more dynamic, engulfing, and captivating record because of this.
A steady drumbeat greets the listener as the fourth song and album highlight, “Ennui,” unravels. During the course of the piece, Bosher turns in a passionate performance vocally as his soft but powerful melodies float above the threatening, ethereal backdrop constructed by his band mates below. As “Ennui” comes crawling to a close, “The Sadness of Man” grabs the torch and proceeds on. The fifth part of this collection comes across as rather anthemic as Bosher continues his dazzling performance, sounding impassioned as ever as the guitar and bass wind and grind in the background. Following a rather mid-tempo pace, the composition plays out carefully until all caution is thrown to the wind and the three-piece unleashes an intimidating conclusion to the piece sure to get heads banging.
As the title track wraps up this incredible album in epic fashion, clear is the notion that there is no justice in the music industry for groups like Decortica. This trio has everything a music fan could want – moderately accessible and catchy songwriting, plenty of variation to prevent stagnation, and marketability as a three piece paving their way through nearly uncharted territory sonically. Decortica have the dedication and ability to rise to the summit of modern musical success, they just need readers like you to give their timeless music a chance. Regardless of how one feels towards alternative rock with progressive tendencies, erase all preconceptions and bare all – check into Decortica’s Love Hotel and experience the pleasures of a masterful album and allow your jaw to fall.
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25 Comments
August 15th, 2010 at 2:51 pm
Utterly addicted to the samples, this sounds incredible. Amazing review, man.
[Reply to this comment]
Josh replied:
August 15th, 2010 at 4:33 pm
Thanks, Anthony. This album is incredible. I have been listening to it for the past week or so. It's a great, little listen.
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Gabriel Pio replied:
August 15th, 2010 at 4:56 pm
I'm with Anthony. The samples sound pretty cool. Might check these guys out.
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Josh replied:
August 15th, 2010 at 5:02 pm
Definitely try these guys out. We'll be streaming them really soon in our "All Access" section. Get ready to be blown away.
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sitan replied:
August 16th, 2010 at 5:43 pm
Drums performed by Daniel Bosher?
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Josh replied:
August 16th, 2010 at 6:07 pm
Yes, I stand corrected. According to their newly released credits, the drumming was performed by Daniel Bosher. Nice catch, sitan. We'll make sure to correct that immediately.
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August 15th, 2010 at 4:20 pm
"Primarily in Japanese culture, a love hotel serves as a space available for consumers to purchase a private room in a public space for a brief amount of time to engage in romantic behavior."
Classy wording. It could have been much worse. haha
I'll admit, not my type of music, but you mentioned the Deftones and gave it a perfect rating, so I might check it out anyway.
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Josh replied:
August 15th, 2010 at 4:34 pm
Yeah, definitely tried to keep the wording classy in this instance. Yeah, check it out the worst that could happen is you walk away not caring for it. Thanks for the comment.
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KrazyCeltic replied:
August 17th, 2010 at 10:48 pm
Yep, definitely picked up on the Deftones sound while listening to Eros before reading the full review. The sample of Monster in a Pretty Dress has a Dillinger Escape Plan sound.
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August 15th, 2010 at 6:21 pm
I only caught onto these guys a few months ago. Saw them live on Friday, incredibly tight, and sonically massive. You're review nails it.
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Josh replied:
August 15th, 2010 at 8:13 pm
Thanks a lot, Jimmy!
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August 15th, 2010 at 7:19 pm
Sounds rather interesting. Clips didn't do as much for me as I was hoping, though.
Ironic that Eros channels Deftones, eh?
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Josh replied:
August 15th, 2010 at 8:13 pm
Yes, very ironic that "Eros" channels Deftones.
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August 15th, 2010 at 8:24 pm
I love music like this, I really do. It's almost like Kings of Leon where they can lay on the ambience and then go back into the up-tempo all in the same song.
No, I'm not comparing them to KoL. Decortica have a quality that I immediately clicked with, and it's one of those that's hard to explain. I think it's just… they don't come out too huge, they just take you along for the ride and try to make it as smooth as possible, yet taking the scenic route.
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Josh replied:
August 15th, 2010 at 9:10 pm
Very well said, Azriel. I have to agree with you there. Thanks for the comment!
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August 16th, 2010 at 6:35 am
Hey guys, before we stream Love Hotel in the All Access area, Decortica have posted the entire album on their official site for download – for free! Check this album out, you literally have nothing to lose:
http://music.decortica.com/
[Reply to this comment]
Gabriel Pio replied:
August 16th, 2010 at 10:37 am
Downloading it as we speak. Or type for that matter.
It was rather nice of them to make it availiable for free.
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Josh replied:
August 16th, 2010 at 12:40 pm
Yeah, it was rather kind of them. Let us know how you like it!
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August 16th, 2010 at 3:42 pm
Wow Josh. Your reviews are almost always spot on for me. I listened to these guys not expecting to like it and was pleasantly surprised. Your review was great, this album is the real deal.
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Josh replied:
August 16th, 2010 at 4:07 pm
Glad to hear that you and I click, Charlie. Thanks for the nice words and I am happy that you are enjoying Love Hotel. Rock on.
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August 17th, 2010 at 12:08 am
The clips sounded promising, so I went to their myspace to listen to more. The discovery I made is that they are unsigned! What!? I have made similar discoveries with a lot of bands lately. I'm old school and like to buy the physical albums, but how do you do that when a band is not signed and are from New Zealand. I was frustrated, but, fortunately, Decortica are providing a free download of this entire album on their website. How sweet is that!?
So, this album is great, which I know thanks to my free download(yes!). For once, "alternative" doesn't mean alternative to my musical taste. This is just good music and good songwriting. I love power trios and this band does "power trio" well. I hope this band gets signed soon and keeps on getting better.
Nice review, Josh
[Reply to this comment]
Josh replied:
August 17th, 2010 at 1:27 pm
I too, love power trios. It forces a band to rely on songwriting that much more. I also have to agree that it is ridiculous that Decortica are not signed as there is potential mainstream appeal within their music. But yeah, glad you are enjoying the album and thanks for the kind words like always, I appreciate it.
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August 17th, 2010 at 4:24 am
Meh.
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Josh replied:
August 17th, 2010 at 1:29 pm
Wrong, give it some time.
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Luke Amos replied:
August 18th, 2010 at 2:31 am
Spun it about three times and it just doesn't grab me.
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