St. James Hotel – You Are Here

Alright, so -20 points for such a lame title, but apparently there is a real-life St. James Hotel, so I didn’t want to say something about ‘staying at the St. James Hotel’; which could easily be taken the wrong way.

I can’t help but think these guys are a combination of The Starting Line’s earliest stuff and Sublime. They are really uptempo, but also have that loose sound that seems like it could turn ‘jammy’ at any moment. The same kind that one would find at a house party – the exact type of scenario that made Sublime famous (thank you, VH1 Behind the Music).

That’s not a polite way of saying these guys sound like crap – definitely not the case. You Are Here, St. James Hotel’s six song EP, expresses a lot of diversity. ‘Eighty-Three’ is a pretty straightforward song and it almost sounds like there are ska elements thrown in there. You’ll definitely notice what I mean about the ska elements when you hear the intro to ‘Cadillac Blindside’ (embedded below). ‘Western Towns’ even has a nice intro that’s about a minute-and-a-half long, thrown in there to keep you on your toes. The way that Ryan (lead singer) does the vocals in that track are almost reminiscent of Thrice.

I think the easiest thing to say about these guys is that they describe themselves as Acoustic Punk. If that – or the artists I compared them to above – peak your interest, give these guys a look. All six songs from their EP are posted on their MySpace page. They are definitely a cool, genre-bending example of how to take a sound and make it your own.

Now since it’s quite far away from the title, I can fulfill anyone’s need for a cheesy line: check into the St. James Hotel and listen to some great tunes while you are here.

For more information on St. James Hotel, visit the St. James Hotel MySpace Page.

St. James Hotel – Cadillac Blindside

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