Trouble
28 January 2014
Merge
3 stars out of 5
Hospitality is the songwriting vehicle for Brooklynite Amber
Papini. The indie pop outfit’s second album, Trouble, recalls The Breeders and Metric in its songcraft and
especially in Papini’s voice. The album has some pleasant and mildly
interesting moments, but also some dull padding in the form of several
unnecessary tracks.
“Nightingale” resurrects the ghost of The Breeders’ Pod, from Amber Papini’s dry Deal-ish
vocal delivery to the song’s stop-and-start construction and proto-grunge guitar. “Going Out” sees
Papini doing her best Cat Power impression over a breezy and mildly-funky
French pop tune. Papini’s guitar soloing near the end of the jagged “I Miss Your Bones” is
both oddly unsettling and impossible to ignore. “Rockets and Jets” is a catchy
minor key pop song in the vein of Old World
Underground-era Metric. One of the more immediately memorable tracks on the
record, it seems tailor-made for college radio medium rotation. “Last Words”
builds over six minutes a subtle Junior Boys-style groove and melody coupled
with even more bizarre guitar noodling from Papini. The remainder of the album
is generally not worth remarking upon, unfortunately.
Perhaps Trouble
would have been stronger if it had been released as a five-track EP instead of
in its present eleven-track form. Papini’s songwriting strengths are shown in
“Nightingale” and “Rockets and Jets”; however, her inconsistency is also shown
by the inclusion of weak compositions such as “It’s Not Serious” and
“Sullivan.” A more focused third album which played to her strengths would be
welcome to my headphones.
reviewed by Richard Krueger
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