Alternative Rock on the Moon: a Listen to Lunar Hotel’s Day Songs//Night Songs
Whatever happened to the bouncy, tongue-in-cheek, lightly 80s alt-rock of the 2010s? Though Two Door Cinema Club, Franz Ferdinand, and Grouplove aren’t cranking out the catchy bops like they used to, Lunar Hotel is bringing fun alt-pop into the modern era, with crisper bass, more thoughtful guitar tracks, and pumping drums. Marvin Albor, Sergio Valentini, Ryan Paroline, and Joe McLoughlin have bottled alt-rock and relieved the thirst of nostalgia that many of us have.
From start to finish, “Day Songs//Night Songs” is full of energy, upbeat, and clean. It brings me back to the days where I would listen to Alt Nation on Sirius XM in the mornings on the way to school, sipping on a blended mocha and tapping my toes in my ratty Converse All-Stars. There’s a youth and vitality to this music that retains so much innocence and fun while having the driving force of heavier alternative music and pop punk. The light gated reverb on the snare, the heavily compressed kick and bass, and the bright, sunny guitars make for an enticing, summer-y soundscape. The lyrics are relatable and not overly specific or too abstract, making them appealing to a wide audience.
However, I do have a couple of words of criticism for this overall fantastic EP. The vocals tend to sit on top of the tracks, and they don’t feel like they’re in the same “room” as the rest of the band, from a production standpoint. I would love for the vocals to have a little less fuzz, and a little more warmth. Everything else is recorded and mixed so well in matching environments, and it makes the vocals sound a little bit distant in regard to the rest of the track. I think that the outro backing vocals on “Side to Lose” are the best mixed to the song, and the light reverb on the vocal stack blends it into the track nicely.
All things considered, “Day Songs//Night Songs” is a fun and well-produced EP, with plenty of nostalgia to go around and fantastic instrumentals.
“Day Songs//Night Songs” is available on all streaming services, listen to it on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/album/35mn9WjYrDyxVzpU25thGN
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