From the bouncy jangle of album starter “Eighth Avenue”, it’s immediately clear Brooklyn trio Hospitality have come a long way from 2008’s debut six song EP – and not just the kind of growth that’s afforded when you stop recording in your apartment and actually enter a studio (although that’s sure to have had a positive impact as well). On their debut album, Amber Papini captures the ineffable spark of their EP’s best tracks and imbues each and every song with it and then some.
Papini’s still cooing her metropolitan tales with the same kind of wit but they’re dressed up better. She along with bandmates Brian Betancourt and Nathan Michel walk hand in hand to provide the album’s numerous upbeat jams with something to say as well as toe-tapping engaging instrumentals that transform occasional bookish or cute moments into radio-ready tunes with a twist, like the stylishly arranged “Friends of Friends”, which features a minute long instrumental break .
The songs are catchy enough to dominate your whole day on just a single listen yet still contain the same thoughtful pacing and intelligent references (like a touch of Greek history in “Argonauts”) that make them more than your garden variety Brooklyn band. Even when singing about sleepovers and birthdays in perfect seriousness, Papini manages to effortlessly sidestep the cutesy female bandleader stereotype that her slight stature and whispy voice practically demand of her due to her high-minded, angular songwriting approach and the band’s delivery. Even the most whimsical of love songs, like “All Day Today”, manage to avoid pigeonhole-ing.
The band has traded in lo-fi folk numbers for energetic indie pop with a hint of a rock edge which works wonders. They keep the same intimacy of their EP, the same trading stories at a café idea with their songs numerous in-jokes and non-explicative detailing but make them bigger, bolder, and filled with excitement. “Hospitality” provides an enjoyable romp full of guilt-free poppy goodness and delightfully smile-inducing songwriting – a real treat.
