Mini-Record Review: Hospitality, S/T

Just when you think there’s nothing new to say about post-graduate angst, Amber Papini and her band Hospitality give us “Liberal Arts,” a song about that melancholy feeling experienced by humanities majors upon working hard to complete a degree that allows them to work for minimum wage at the local coffee shop. Papini sings, “"So you found the lock/ But not the key that college brings/ And all the trouble of your B.A. in English literature/ Instead of law, or something more practical." Hospitality could almost be viewed as a sequel to Vampire Weekend. They have made a record about what happens when the Ivy League bubble is burst and the “real world” comes crashing in. Indeed, this is material worthy of the blog Stuff White People Like or the latest Wes Anderson film. Somehow, Papini and company make this tried and true material work. The success of Hospitality’s debut LP is a testament to the power of the music, light, poppy fare that nevertheless has a bite to it.


The band is at their peak when they give us strong melodies and slightly unpredictable chord progressions. There’s definitely an element of twee in tunes like “Eighth Avenue” and “Friends of Friends,” but the sincerity of the lyrics transcends the “cuteness.” The record lags a bit when it slows down. “Julie” and “Argonauts” go on just a bit too long. Still, nothing beats pure fun, and Hospitality makes cardigan rock sound pretty sweet.

Listen on Spotify:
http://open.spotify.com/album/0CcRg0EwFcCKw99gLIcOCQ

Money Is Anything

Once, you told me

When the sky closes for the night

Over that river, you know, the one with the fast food wrappers,

It feels a lot like the last track of With the Beatles.

That’s all I wanted.

To hear.


By: Jake Adams

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Over a Long Time Ago

From a cabin and a photograph of her

I deduce the meaning of used guitar strings;
the skeleton under my skin.
Whatever kind of snow that falls,
it falls all night.

As if a goodbye could be a remembering.
Imperfect morning
finds me again.

Collaborative poem with Vince Bauters