Sun Hotel

In the two or so years that Sun Hotel has been in existence, they’ve quickly grown from a fledgling two-man instrumental project into a rock n’ roll nerve center – housing as many as six constantly revolving mini-bands and managing to found local DIY label Chinquapin Records with brother group Caddywhompus. With such a manically multi-faceted creative energy and a never-ending touring prowess, it’s surprising this young band ever gets around to recording any music. Nevertheless, last year’s Coast - their full length self-released debut – not only proved to be a natural tightening of the screws from their previous EPs (well-recorded in their own right), but also sported a wholesome, spacious production value well beyond the band’s assumed experience and resources.

Just over a year since that album’s release, Sun Hotel has resurfaced with Gifts, a surprising EP that may mark a subtle shift in creative direction with murkier, cloudier textures that predicate a hopelessly contemplative lyrical subject matter. Having eschewed the often turbulent job of working out of a professional studio in favor of the cozy confines of an acoustically echoic living room, in-house production prodigy Ross Farbe has crafted a musical canvas both grandiose and claustrophobic, at times smoothly refined and other times altogether disheveled and squalid.

Suffusing every guitar string, bass rattle and whisper on opener “Talks” with wave after wave of delay and reverb, the band balances their inescapable pop sensibilities with deafening walls of white noise and subtle electronic arrangements. Elsewhere, the bass and lead guitar tandem of John St. Cyr and Alex Hertz, respectively, overlay the epic structure of centerpiece “Ease” with a thick, warm tone equal parts nostalgia and melancholy, while drummer Devin Hildebrand, in his swansong, channels his usually intense technique into an emphatically chaotic rumble.

They lead you through some of catchiest choruses in Sun Hotel’s canon to date (the repetitious phrase “Wrong about a lot of things now” is an earworm if there ever was), but one can’t help but feel an overwhelming sense of concord with singer/songwriter Tyler Scurlock’s wistful, everyman lyrical sentiment, whether it be his earnest fear of emotional withdrawal, his disgust of sanctimony, or his pensive tendency to “turn to ‘Good Vibrations’”. And the production on Gifts – a departure from the cleaner, chamber pop vibes of some of the band’s earlier efforts – is not only an an appropriate fit, but essential to the EP’s cohesiveness and success. - Barryfest

If you squint, Sun Hotel’s Coast almost — almost — sounds like it emerged fully formed out of the Northern woods, full of Gibbard-y solemnity, Arcade Fire grandeur, and Moondoggies atmosphere. Dig deeper, though, and the vibe of the band’s Louisiana home bleeds through like murky water seeping in under the door, bringing all kinds of mysterious stuff along with it.
It takes a while to get to that point, mind you; when the album starts, opening track “Palms” is all slow, languid indie-folk-pop, meditative and somewhat cautionary-sounding but still open and welcoming, with singer/guitarist Tyler Scurlock declaring “these are your songs” with a weary smile. The track builds nicely to a roaring, high-flying crescendo that bears some resemblance to that aforementioned Canadian band that’s gotten a lot of big-time accolades lately.
What Sun Hotel’s quieter, more indie-rock-ish tracks really remind me of, however, is Austinites The Eastern Sea. Frontman Scurlock bears a serious vocal resemblance to the Sea’s Matthew Hines, and the bands’ songs share an understated, gorgeously layered beauty (well, most of ‘em do, anyway), not to mention some smart, sharply-turned lyricism. None of which is a bad thing, of course, and the Sea is a darn good comparison to be able to make, at least in my book.
Granted, that Ben Gibbard influence does pop up quite a bit on Coast; “Oikos,” for one, starts off gentle and Death Cab-like before quickly getting rougher-edged and busier, all the while with Scurlock’s laidback, half-asleep vocals. A similar thing happens on “Seasonality,” while is deliberate and kind of somnolent but still nicely done. “Suburb” changes tracks a bit, coming off much more retro-folk than the rest, with the band’s penchant for whoa-oh-oh backing/harmony vocals calling to mind Fleet Foxes or The Moondoggies but with a lot more fire than either of those bands.
Coast doesn’t truly jump up and grab you, though — not completely — until “Loose Woman” hits. It’s bitter and rough, aiming in a different direction than most of the other tracks on here while pointing out their own hints of bayou-bred mysteriousness. The song’s like an indie-rock take on rollicking, jagged-edged swamp blues, and as vitriolic and venom-filled as it is, it elevates what would otherwise be a pretty good but not great album into something else entirely.
Scurlock’s menacing as all hell here, spurning the woman of the song’s title while simultaneously daring her to come along anyway and evoking the dark, murky, haunted side of the band’s home state when he sings, “‘Cause I don’t want to leave the swamp tonight / I feel the creakin’ and the shakin’ and the hands on my car / My goddamn acoustic guitar.” It’s hard to tell if he’s singing as himself or as some kind of groupie-bagging rocker, especially with lines like “I see the money and the whiskey and the girls at the bar / How’m I supposed to make this look hard?” Either way, the song works brilliantly.
“Voodoo You” follows close by, appropriately murky and swampified and raw, and by then it feels like that dark bayou water runs beneath each and every track, even the quiet, low-key “You (Shake)” or the Beatlesque “Egyptian Cotton.” Those aren’t tall, woody pines you’re seeing in your mind’s eye as Coast unfurls; they’re alien-looking cypress trees looming out of the mist. - Space City Rock

On Friday, October 7th, Sun Hotel released their new EP, Gifts, at a packed One Eyed Jacks. They spent their summer touring, leaving the day after finals and traveling for a solid month, which gave the boys plenty of material for this amazing record. Tour highlights were being begged for an encore from complete strangers in Boston, and Tyler throwing up off stage, mid song, at Free Press Summer Fest in Houston. I think this means he is officially a rock star.
Traveling in a van for a month has a way of bringing people together, and as guitarist Alex Hertz put it, “you just don’t know what kind of person you are until you are sweating profusely,” which what they spent most of the tour doing. Being together on tour destroyed their, “acceptable shit filter,” pushing them to that place where nobody gives a fuck anymore. Its about the music and the experience, not the flat tire in the middle of nowhere at three in the morning.
Gifts really exemplifies the laid-back indie-pop sound that fans have come to know and love from Sun Hotel. From the almost-angsty lyrics of “Got Along” that make you want to sing along with vocalist Tyler Scurlock to the melodic sounds of “Alchemy,” this EP and Sun Hotel have that special something that just makes you want to listen to their songs on repeat.
Keep your eyes and ears open because Sun Hotel and their grassroots label, Chinquapin Records have some very exciting shows coming up. On November 2nd, you can catch them with Dead Confederate at the House of Blues New Orleans, and then later on in the month stop by the November Chin-dig to hear a sampling of New Orleans’ best up and comers.
Check out Sun Hotel and Gifts at http://chinquapinrecords.com/artists/sun-hotel/ and feel free to send Tyler the lovely picture of him that is currently for sale on Ebay for his upcoming birthday. - The New LoFi

"Freewheeling folksters Sun Hotel...drifting, reverb-tinged folk is reminiscent Tennessee Fire-era My Morning Jacket." - Groovescapes