Explorers Club “Grand Hotel”

powerpopaholic Highly Recommended by Powerpopaholic, Power Pop Review

After the heavenly Beach Boys harmonies of Freedom Wind, Explorers Club moves forward five years to the early 70’s AM soft rock era. Starting with a Pet Sounds styled instrumental intro, the horns blast out the first single “Run Run Run,” a hook filled gem with lush orchestration similar to The 5th Dimension. Then the guitar and multiple vocals of “Anticipatin'” make it a dead ringer for a lost Grass Roots tune.

You’ll have lots of fun playing “spot the influence” on each track – like the BJ Thomas shuffle on “Bluebird,” then the Sergio Mendes-Burt Bacharach (“Grand Hotel”), and Neil Diamond (“Go For You”) – in fact the last 3 tracks lean heavily on Neil’s style (thanks to Beach Boys’ engineer Mark Linnett). I could go on and on… The arrangements and musicianship are flawless throughout, but only a handful of tracks really stick in your head. Many are too short, and after getting started seem to end abruptly (“Any Little Way”). However when the band lays down several beautiful harmonies on “Summer Days, Summer Nights” and “It’s You,” its thrilling. And it’s hard to get mad at filler as sweet as “Acapulco (Sunset).” Overall, a visit to Grand Hotel is a pleasant nostalgic trip.

4 thoughts to “Explorers Club “Grand Hotel””

  1. I think this album is a “9”. It has the memorable tunes and great production. Blast from Beach Boys and Happy 70’s. Come now, give them a little more credit.

  2. Do you know how hard it is to make a power pop song that works? With all the non-starters and pretenders that have been highlighted here (hello to hacks like Fountains of Wayne and Red Button), to call this masterpiece of fun “a pleasant nostalgia trip” with “only a handful of tracks that stick in your head” is an indication that this site has jumped the shark.
    I thought power pop meant songs that didn’t drone on to the five minute mark, that accepted the gauntlet of Spector and Herb alpert and made good times out of the grand inheritance.

    1. If you bothered to look at the time for each track nothing is over 4:20. And I never called it a “masterpiece” either, but the production values and musicianship are certainly way above par. It sounds like you’d be happier reading the pretentious hipster reviews over at Pitchfork. Bye.

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