Saint Motel is pleased to announce the release of their debut full-length, Voyeur, due out July 10. In celebration of the release, the band is dropping their latest single, “1997,” for free download. The shimmering track showcases the band’s unique perspective. It’s a playfully-sadistic anecdote about a group of friends sensing the world will end in 1997. The track is an enjoyable composite of sounds, blending together tuneful keyboard strokes and the twang of the guitar with the horn-section and singer A/J Jackson’s soft vocal delivery.

Listen and download “1997″ below.

The band will embark on a national headlining tour kicking off on July 12th at San Francisco’s Pop Scene. Additionally, they will be hosting a hometown record release show in Los Angeles at the El Rey Theatre on Saturday, July 14th. Below I’ve listed the rest of their tour dates. (more…)

Tags: Los Angeles, lounge pop, Saint Motel, single, upcoming album, Voyeur

Got a new song from Los Angeles alternative band Saint Motel. The song, “Honest Feedback”, has an interesting story behind it that I will let the band explain:

The song itself was something we had been kicking back and forth for a while. Kind of has retro sock-hop-pop vibes that we really love and it’s fun to get loose to this song on stage.

The lyrical idea kind of happened by accident. In the writing phase, I was just singing gibberish lyrics to get the melody down. But I kept on saying something that sounded like “honest feedback”. When it was time to actually sit down and write the lyrics I was thinking, ‘I should probably change the lyric because no one likes to hear honest feedback,’ but then I thought, ‘that is actually pretty fucking cool.’ So we decided to just dive into a pretty taboo subject. Probably not the kind of subject matter you’ll be hearing in shampoo commercials but at least it’s keeping us entertained haha

Stream and download (for a limited time only) “Honest Feedback”.

If you like what you hear, click more to see Saint Motel‘s tour dates in March. (more…)

Tags: Los Angeles, Saint Motel

“The video is a combination of 16mm, Super 8, Flip-Cam, Video, Cell Phone, and Still Photography that we’ve accumulated throughout the years. With “At Least I Have Nothing” we saw an opportunity to do a more introspective video. Rather than a big production with high concepts we wanted to do something small that was a mixture of sadness, optimism, and intense nostalgia.  We purposely left out performance and typical “band” type footage to hopefully present a different side of Saint Motel.  Since that is most of what we had footage-wise what we ended up with was a lot of weird and rated R content.” – Saint Motel

Watch the official music video to “At Least I Have Nothing” below. (more…)

Tags: Los Angeles, Saint Motel

Here’s what Saint Motel told us regarding their latest song, “At Least I Have Nothing”.

I wanted to send you over the new Saint Motel song, “At Least I Have Nothing”.  It’s kind of a contrast to our last song “Puzzle Pieces” and will be the other song on our upcoming 7″, which is available now for pre-order at http://giftshop.saintmotel.com/product/7-1-saint-motel-vinyl.

Like every Saint Motel song, the meaning is open to (and encouraged for) interpretation. In some ways, “At Least I Have Nothing” is a fucked up look at the bright side of utter despair.  When you have nothing, maybe that nothingness is actually something…freedom.

SAINT MOTEL – At Least I Have Nothing

Here’s the official music video to the other hit song on Saint Motel‘s upcoming project, “Puzzle Pieces”. (more…)

Tags: Los Angeles, Saint Motel

Five songs from five different indie rock bands that don’t really sound similar. First song “King of the Beach” (Download) by Wavves was sent to me by Marc from MJF. Didn’t expect I would like it as I hadn’t liked Wavves music before but now I’m a fan; maybe it was the music video accompanying such a catchy surf rock jam.

Saint Motel is an indie/alternative rock band that grows on you. In “Puzzle Pieces”, they open with piano and overall I feel all the pieces in their songs flow so well.
Saint Motel – Puzzle Pieces
Shout out to SITR for letting me know about such a catchy rock and roll song. So much soul and flair in this song, the instrumentals are rocking, the vocals have something special about them. Keep an eye on J Roddy Watson & The Business.
J Roddy Walston & The Business – Don’t Break The Needle
Starting off the song plucking a few strings with a mellow voice and slowly picking it up, I love “White Knuckle Tight Grip” by the UK rock band Pilots.
Pilots – White Knuckle Tight Grip
Lastly if your a fan of Wolf Gang, then you probably already heard this song. I love how up and down this track is, the instrumentals are great, the vocals stand stand out and I like how this song shows some influences towards classic UK rock.
Wolf Gang – Dancing With the Devil

Tags: J Roddy Watson & The Business, Pilots, Saint Motel, Wavves, Wolf Gang

I wish I saw this band perform at last month’s Sunset Strip Music Festival in Los Angeles. Unfortunately I got a little late but I read some great reviews on Saint Motel. This Los Angeles-based band has an indie-pop feel and most of the band members went to some sort of film school so they put emphasis on that in their music videos.

Enjoy “Butch”, “To My Enemies” and the Sam Sparro remix to “Dear Dictator”.

Tags: indie pop, Los Angeles, Saint Motel, Sam Sparro, SSMF 2010, Sunset Strip Music Festival