 Ashley
Park
"The Secretariat Motor Hotel" CD
Darling
Music / Happy Happy
Birthday To Me
Genres: country-rock, indie pop
HHBTM
PO Box 1035
Panama City, FL
32402
Nov 17 - 23 2003 |
The
music is nice, the music is nice. Ashley Park blend
country-rock with indie pop and make music so beautiful it will melt
your heart into nothingness. Each song on this album is based on
a different occupant of the fictional Secretariat Motor Hotel,
and this interesting concept is pulled off masterfully. The band
delivers an inarguably potent, thoroughly infectious album of very
high quality. Throughout The Secretariat Motor Hotel, the focus is
obviously on country music, with slide guitar in practically every
song. The songwriting, however, is so well-done that the album
won't ever be confined solely to Western-favouring audiences - its
melodic charm will appease even the most diehard pop fans. As
well, lead
singer and songwriter Terry Miles graces the album's
twelve songs with his pleasant, almost Jonathan Donahue-esque
vocals. Another plus.
The songs on the album, though very similar to one another, are all
wonderful, pleasant numbers. "Father Hill's American
Farm" is the first extremely noteworthy song on the disc; its
subtly playful, deceptively simple melody is mixed with slide guitar
and a slight bit of sixties-era psychedelic effects. "The
Ballad of Mad Cameron Howard" is also one of the album's best;
its sensitive, delicate structure is host to some deviously catchy pop
hooks. "Our Glory Days," finally, could be the album's
most immediately beautiful song. It is catchy right from the
first listen, and its subtly Sparklehorse and Mercury Rev
influenced melodies and performance style will send you into pop
euphoria.
Ashley Park's The Secretariat Motor Hotel is a
beautiful album; it is definitely deserving of a spot on the list of
2003's best releases.
90%
Matt Shimmer
[Vitals: 12 tracks, distributed by the
label, released 2003] |
