Flatbasset Radio's Album Of The Week for the week of February 16th-22nd:
Hotelecaster - Farther Fewer
01. Distaster
02. Caravan
03. Walk Away
04. Farther Fewer
05. There Was A Fight Last Night
06. I Will Wait
St. Paul's been on a winning streak over the past few years. Whether it's up-and-coming indie bands like Panther Ray and The Person & The People, power-pop legends-in-the-making The Persian Leaps, or the sustained excellence of Martin Devaney's country-tinged albums, St. Paul has become the go-to side of the river for thoughtful, catchy rock n roll music. Even though principle songwriters Kevin Scott & Charlie Ward formed Hotelecaster in Minneapolis, they've known each other since growing up in St. Paul. Given that track record, my expectations for Farther Fewer were high.
For the most part, Farther Fewer lives up to those standards. The songs here are catchy, smart, and mostly fall in line with what you would expect from a group consisting of established musicians. Scott & Ward have been playing in various groups around the Twin Cities for years and, though I'd have to see the liner notes to know who wrote which songs here, it certainly seems like their are dueling ideas at work here.
Opener "Distaster" is a slow-burning track that never ebbs & flows, but never really climaxes. Follow up "Caravan" wouldn't have been out of place on Utopia Parkway (though I may be a bit biased here as A) I love Fountains Of Wayne & anything that reminds me of Fountains Of Wayne and B) my first car was a 1989 Caravan). It's a gem of a song that captures the big goals of youth & the anti-climax of sort of achieving those goals. "Walk Away" combines the first two tracks, keeping the tempo & the hooks of "Caravan," but heading back to the vague lyrics of "Distaster."
The real highlight of the EP is the title track. For a record written by two guitarists, it's mildly surprising that they wait until half way through the record to really let the guitars speak, but that patience pays off when "Farther Fewer" really lets go. The song seemingly hangs by the threads of negative space & Kevin Scott's falsetto until the big guns are called in during the chorus. "Your waning moon is my north star, the lights up ahead getting farther, fewer..." Scott laments as those guitars come crashing in. It's an impressively epic moment that doubles as the EP's peak.
The band returns to their poppier side (with a healthy dash of Craig Finn-ish-ness) on "There Was A Fight Last Night" before delving deep into those guitars on epic closer "I Will Wait."
Farther Fewer definitely stands as an intriguing debut for Hotelecaster. It's certainly the work of a band still working out their sound, attempting to find the balance between instant gratification hooks & more complicated (though potentially more rewarding) wide-screen ideas. Give those two songs I posted above a listen for an example of just what I mean.
For a band consisting of members of other bands, I have no idea if Hotelecaster is going to be a long-term concern or if Farther Fewer was a one-off to try out some ideas, but they've definitely planted the seeds of something larger here. I highly suggest you head over to their Bandcamp page and pick up a copy of Farther Fewer. Wherever this band is going, it'll definitely be more rewarding if you get in on the ground floor.
