The Burning Hotels

The Burning Hotels reach back five years, drawing on inspiration from the Strokes and the Stills for their debut full-length album, Novels. It's difficult not to enjoy songs such as "Austin's Birthday," "Silhouette" or "French Heart Attack"; they're catchy, have lively beats and are the perfect "everyday, anytime" sort of music. But that's just it: they don't evoke any strong emotions or reactions; it's merely great background music, with a track or two that might find its way onto a play list. If they could only take what they did with "To Whom it May Concern" ― angular guitar lines, frenetic drum beats and a soaring chorus ― and expand upon it. That one track proves they have a keen sense of how to write a solid song, unfortunately that same passion isn't conveyed across all 11 tracks. Novels is worthy of a quick iTunes tryst, but not a record store romance.