Local indie rock band drops fourth album in two years

By Don Thrasher, Contributing Writer 9:15 PM Friday, December 16, 2011

Local indie-rock band Motel Beds had a good year. The stellar full-length, “Sunfried Dreams,” was released in February, which caught the attention of No More Fake Labels, based in Chapel Hill, N.C. The affiliation with the self-proclaimed anti-label led to a well-reviewed show at this year’s CMJ Music Festival in New York and the promise of a slot at the South by Southwest Festival in Austin in 2012.

This year, Motel Beds shared the stage with Kelley Deal of The Breeders several times, inviting her up to sing with them at Dayton Does Dayton at Canal Street Tavern, Record Store Day at Omega Music and the Bowery Poetry Club in New York.

Motel Beds also found time to record more material, and launched a successful Kickstarter campaign to raise money to release the new album, “Tango Boys,” on vinyl. The prolific group’s fourth full-length since February 2010 got its official release at Canal Street Tavern last Friday, Dec. 9, and the music just gets better and better.

Like “Sunfried Dreams,” “Tango Boys” runs the gamut from melody-rich rockers like “Fake Army” and “Lit Eyes” to slower numbers. In the hands of some acts, the title track and “Say Goodnight” could be light ballads but this crew injects the songs with enough tension and tasty guitar licks to elevate it to another level.

“Tango Boys” is a solid way to end the year, and knowing these cats it’s just a teaser for more musical goodness in 2012.

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