Thursday, February 16, 2012

Open the door and let love in

Paying homage to your musical influences while paving your own way in the world of today's music is what The Explorers Club attempts to accomplish with their second record, Grand Hotel.

Each well crafted song is a pleasant game of spot the influence. From The Buckinghams, to Lou Christie, Burt Bachrach to Roy Orbison - Grand Hotel, for the most part, is a sparkling tribute to pop sounds of the late 1960's.

Like their first release, Freedom Wind, which exclusively pays homage to the Beach Boys, Grand Hotel is a shimmering aural display of sunshine, brilliantly mixed by Mark Linnett, made by musicians who play their own instruments. Musicians who sing harmony without the aid of auto tune.



Each room of Grand Hotel offers a treat, a Spanish guitar, Herb Alpert horns, anthem like strings - you want to stay in this Charleston, South Carolina's sextet's world for a long time. Yet I can't help looking for a little oomph, some soul, individual identity - something that tells me this band has more to say, without having to rely on the sounds of the past.

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