Saint Motel makes chic and sprightly music with hints of ironic malevolence. On 'Voyeur', the group’s first full-length release, the guitars clang briskly while the vocals ascend from high tenor to outright falsetto. Sometimes, a sample, shout or horn-section riff will enter to bounce an already airborne song even higher.
The band members have a strong sense of style: The way singer-guitarist A/J Jackson and his cohorts inject Caribbean lilts, stomping beats and lounge-jazz licks into giddy power-pop suggests that they’ve carefully studied the Undertones’ brilliant 1981 album, 'Positive Touch' . Saint Motel is wise to highlight its cunning arrangements and breathless execution.
