Motel Saints at the Meadowlark

Initially, Motel Saints can sound a bit too familiar. But pinpointing the source of that musical déjà vu is difficult, and then suddenly it dawns on you that maybe the group is on to something. Borrowing some phrasings from mid-'70s David Bowie, the early solo Iggy Pop records and the...

By Tom Murphy

July 16, 2009

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Initially, Motel Saints can sound a bit too familiar. But pinpointing the source of that musical déjà vu is difficult, and then suddenly it dawns on you that maybe the group is on to something. Borrowing some phrasings from mid-'70s David Bowie, the early solo Iggy Pop records and the jangly but urgent guitar tones of the Jam, Motel Saints (due at the Meadowlark on Saturday, July 18) has the air of another era without coming off as gaudily retro. Instead, the act's finely crafted songs have a way of getting stuck in your head like some of those insidiously catchy hooks on early Cheap Trick records. Though the Saints are at their best when they build hypnotic momentum, they do not indulge in just one dynamic or dimension; rather, the band treats its audience to a refreshingly broad range of sounds and moods.

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Tom Murphy is a writer, visual artist and musician from Aurora, Colorado. He was a prolific music writer for Westword and a documenter of the Denver music scene.

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