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http://www.rollingstone.com/assets/images/album_review/9f0ffe6ac7705e4a6712e300f7eec01b63c21dfa.jpg Hospitality

Hospitality

Hospitality

Merge
Rolling Stone: star rating
Community: star rating
5 4 0
January 31, 2012

Synth doodles and squeaky-cutesy vocals abound on this Brooklyn trio's aggressively adorable debut. But Hospitality have more to offer than mere sweetness: Check how the wistful ballad "Eighth Avenue" left-turns into a spastic guitar outburst, like Tom Verlaine crashing a Belle and Sebastian session. Amber Papini's lyrics keep the merry-sounding tunes grounded in reality – deft sketches of young New Yorkers falling for new loves, droning away at dead-end jobs and dreaming of far-away homes. The melodies are stickier than hot tar, but it's those vivid little scenes that lodge in your head the longest.

Listen to "Eighth Avenue":

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Photos: Random Notes

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