Album Review: One Thousand Motels - "2% Out Of Sync"

 

Featuring the talents of Rat Scabies on drums and former Adam & The Ants bassist Chris Constantinou, both last seen hooking up together in the Mutants, One Thousand Motels see the pair eschewing the guest stars approach of the three Mutants albums for a more back-to-basics approach.

There's a weird fuzzy psychedelic sort of vibe to this album which reminds me of Queens of the Stone Age (though thankfully the version before Josh Homme got drunk on his own armpit stench and they didn’t so much jump the shark as do a triple pike with somersault over it) more than anything. I can also hear Screamadelica era Primal Scream on the tripped out likes of Definition and the vocals on the laid-back Gone and Gerry's Ashes could almost be Andrew Eldritch after an overdose on Horlicks.

It's maybe telling though that One Thousand Motels sound at their best when they inject a bit of urgency into their sound - the Beatles-y Rain and Kill Me If You Love me are the sort of things you could've imagined Jellyfish doing back in the day which is no bad thing. Elsewhere, I Like The Sex In The Suburbs taps into the classic Suede vein while the Tomorrow Never Knows soundalike Kings X Guru is another highlight.

More of an album to chill out to than rock out to, if there's a complaint here then it's maybe that a bit of added urgency to some of the more soporific songs on here wouldn't have hurt (a couple of numbers like Andy's Wonder World and the title track are a bit all over the place and drag on a touch). But for what it is, 2% Out Of Sync isn't a bad effort at all. Turn on, tune in and bliss out.

NITE SONGS RATING: 🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌑🌑🌑 (7/10)

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