Summer House

'Gold Motel's debut full length, Summer House, is filled with generous helpings of sugary, summer pop. Most everything on the album is quick and wildly catchy. And at just under thirty minutes of run time, it's a breeze to listen to the thing straight through. I know this because I did many, many times. Summer House, actually, is a super-sized version of the band's self-titled debut EP, which included half of the tunes ("Perfect in My Mind," "Make Me Stay," "The Cruel One," "Who Will I Be Tonight?" and Don't Send the Searchlights") later added to Summer House's ten track listing. "Perfect in My Mind," the lead single off the EP, is a good representation on what you get from a band like Gold Motel. It's accessible, fun and concise. At 3:14, it's actually one of the longer tracks on the album. I like "Perfect" because, I believe, it's a song about that indescribable feeling of falling helplessly in love. Those lines about everything being borrowed really hit a home run with me. It just about sums up infatuation: That your possessions, your bones, your very being are secondhand next to that guy or gal you can't stop thinking about. "Don't Send the Searchlights" is a good one, too, but for differently reasons entirely. For one, it may be as upbeat (in sound) as "Perfect," yet its message is clearly opposite. Instead of infatuation, "Searchlights" is about closing the door on, well, failure. I love Greta Morgan's line about her man being "watercolor" and that he'll just "wash away." And the idea of calling off the searchlights - putting an end to the rescue party - is a glowing one. Greta's an excellent writer, and it shows here. Like the older songs on the EP, the five new ones on the full length are related to relationships, too. "Summer House" is probably the most hopeful of the bunch. "Summer House" is two people who understand they might be wrong for each other, but not letting it affect them. Or, it's two people who people think will be wrong for each other, but again, not heeding the tip. It's knowing that what you're doing is something you think might be right for you, and letting that be enough. Independence, in a nutshell. "Safe in LA" is for the peeps doing the long distance thing out there. Good friends of mine, actually, have been doing the coast to coast thing for a few years now, and this tune reminded me of them and how awesome their feelings must be if they can get by with each other without being physically near one another. Summer House is an impressive debut for five bandmates that previously worked for other bands prior to Gold Motel's founding. Greta is of The Hush Sound, which is on hiatus, while Dan Duszynski, Matt Minx and Adam Coldhouse are of This is Me Smiling. Eric Hehr, a guitarist, is formerly of two Chicago bands, The Villains of Verona and The Yearbooks.' - Eric Hughes / Chicago Tunes