9 Nov 2011
Introducing
Introducing | Delta Hotel
Brooklyn just can’t stop giving when it comes to cool bands and thriving indie scenes. The latest to come straight outta the Brooklyn DIY scene is Delta Hotel the fun-filled pop punk band set to make your lives just that little bit happier.
Lead by singer/songwriter Kiri Oliver, the girl with the cute voice, the band began as the home recording project of Oliver and guitarist Dan Smith. The duo met through the Connecticut DIY scene while Oliver was attending Wesleyan University and had an immediate connection. They decided to move back to Oliver’s native Brooklyn in 2010 and recruited bassist Beth Ochs and drummer Jason Orlic to form a full band.
Delta Hotel coined their name from the military radio code for “direct hit”, dedicated as they were to writing “honest dongs with impact.” Delta Hotel is the perfect party band for the socially awkward. Like a musical version of Daria they focus on relationships, social awkwardness and hierarchies for the subjects of their songs.
Their stand-out song has to be the uplifting ‘Prime Numbers’, a song about being the school outcast, which sees Oliver sing “You can do anything once you’ve walked into a party alone”. With feel-good lines like that you’ll probably be thinking that Delta Hotel have spent one too many nights reading Chicken Soup for the Soul – but ‘Prime Numbers’ is kitsch, fun and punkily short, coming in at a succinct 1min 44 seconds.
But they’re not just a one hit wonder; ‘Rattenberg’, a moody, organ filled number, ‘The Look Back’, a grunge-pop tune about neighbours who never speak to each other and ‘The Solitary Life’, about your insecurities getting the better of you, are great additions to their arsenal.
On their website Delta Hotel declare they make “fiercely honest pop for wallflowers and underdogs” – a statement that rings true a thousand times if you are part of the audience they’re targeting. These songs should be a mandatory for anyone feeling down as they’ll immediately have a bounce in their step after listening to five seconds of Oliver’s chirpy vocals.
What do you think of Delta Hotel and their lo-fi approach to pop?
Steph Phillips
Leigh Celent Photography
sorry, the off-key vocals set my teeth on edge
Yes, we think they are not going to be everyone’s cup of tea – but there’s something quite charming about their lack of precision I think…
I like it… after a few listens i love it! It’s fun and poppy {is that a word?) The ending of Prime Numbers (the first song) is about the coolest thing i’ve heard in ages… kudos for kinda reminding me of old Blink-182 but sounding hella cooler…
[...] the socially awkward” and “like a musical version of Daria.” Yessss. Read more here. Thanks, ladies! <3 GA_googleAddAttr("AdOpt", "1"); GA_googleAddAttr("Origin", "other"); [...]