Austin locals MoTel Aviv formed in early 2009 and have been sharing their danceable post-punk tunes with the Texas music scene ever since. Their music is a slightly twisted time warp back to the era of The Clash, The Psychadelic Furs and Joy Division. MoTel Aviv have just released their breed of post-punk pop excellence to the world on their debut album Post Modern Nation. I have seen the four piece perform a couple shows in Austin and I really dig their high energy three-minute bursts of jangly guitar, strong vocals, pounding bass and booming drums, but I was unsure whether this energy could be fully translated to a recording. Fortunately, I was pleasantly surprised when I gave Post Modern Nation a listen. The danceable beats and infectious melodies translated quite well and even sounded fuller through additional backing vocals, effects and deeper layers.
MoTel Aviv - The Unknown
“The Unknown” is the leading single off Post Modern Nation and really showcases MoTel Aviv firing on all cylinders. The bass line provides a strong backbone for the guitar work, which is reminiscent of The Edge at his prime, and the vocals in the chorus are immediately impactful and infectious. I was singing the chorus: “I’m wide awake in a Post Modern Nation” for hours after hearing this track.
Other highlights off the album include the tracks “Suffering Eyes” and “Static.” These two tracks definitely had me hit repeat more than a couple times before moving on to the rest of the 10 track LP. Also on the album are some mid-tempo songs that I hadn’t heard before at MoTel Aviv’s shows. These slower and longer tracks brought additional diversity to the album and also further displayed MoTel Aviv’s level of musicianship. The final track “Goldmine” is a multi-layered and dramatic close to the album which is full of powerful crooning, energetic drumming and sweeping guitar.
MoTel Aviv’s debut full length album can be found in select stores, iTunes and Amazon, as well as other retailers. The official Post Modern Nation release party is this Friday at Beauty Bar with Sphynx. Hear this great album come alive. RSVP here to get both a copy of the album and entry for only $5!
–Dan
