Track Listing > >
As I Come In / Boxing Diabolical / Sleeping Lions / The Things You Love / Stir Me Up
SELF RELEASED
A reassuringly awkward sounding jangly guitar outfit, Hotel Ukraine make music that sounds like a C86 incarnation of Babyshambles, all lo-fi production, chirpy melodies and jaunty attitude.
An EP of upfront indie-pop goodness, the GIFT FOR FICTION EP is the kind of thing that wouldn't have sounded out of place on John Peel's Festive Fifty any year between 1985 and 1995. But dated and fey in a great way, like a long lost classic just unearthed and unleashed upon a nation of unsuspecting fresh faced new indie kids, AS I COME IN imagines Babyshambles jamming with the Arctic Monkeys and The Fire Engines whilst the jaunty BOXING DIABOLICAL is a jagged slice of lo-fi pop that sees Nick and Rosie dueting joyfully over ramshackle guitar chords.
Elsewhere SLEEPING LIONS is a sinewy indie pop tune with catchy melodies and infectious guitar skirmishes and THE THINGS YOU LOVE a hauntingly special song that crosses The Beatles with Belle And Sebastian.
A brilliantly off kilter and skewed helping of joyous indie pop, the GIFT FOR FICTION EP could well mark the start of something very special indeed for Hotel Ukraine, a band demanding of your care and attention.
BIOGRAPHY
We are Hotel Ukraine - a wildly lo-fi rock'n'roll band from smoky ol' London. Our two lead vocalists, Nick and Rosie, sing quirky chewed-up melodies about late nights and early mornings to Anya's punchy guitar sounds and Sam-I-Am's unstoppable beats. Throw in a tambourine and it makes for an establishment you need to check out!
We're still unsigned but have just completed our third EP - GIFT FOR FICTION.
The four of us are friends who met at college and formed our band in early 2005. At this point we had at our disposal one broken amp, a guitar and something all too similar to bongos while rehearsing in, if we're honest, a small cupboard. Fortunately demos on Dictaphones are behind us, but those early days have paved the way for a DIY ethic that remains unshakeable two years later. We like our songs to work on an acoustic guitar in the wee hours of a party as much as live onstage.
We began to receive A&R attention at the beginning of 2006 while playing at the key areas of the London unsigned circuit including stints at the Camden Underworld, Dublin Castle, and the Rhythm Factory. Nowadays things are coming along nicely - we've got a truly quirky, melodic and lively sound, a buzzing MySpace page and a like-minded following who love coming to shake a leg or two with us.
At our heart, there are elements of a whole host of different genres, ranging from jazz and blues to a little funk and pure, honest rock'n'roll, and we've gradually added new instruments into the mix including harmonica and a range of percussion. We're striving to be as far from basic indie as tuneful rock can be. We think our new EP is our most energetic sound to date, making use of the crackling chemistry of our two vocalists for the first time on record, and we hope you like it!
LINE UP
Nick Taylor
Rosamund Pike
Anya Pearson
Sam-I-Am
DISCOGRAPHY
GIFT FOR FICTION EP (Self Released>2007)
As I Come In
Boxing Diabolical
Sleeping Lions
The Things You Love
Stir Me Up
LINKS
Hotel Ukraine>www.myspace.com/hotelukraine
FURTHER LISTENING
Belle And Sebastian
Babyshambles
The Fire Engines
Review date: February 2007 |
