We Would Totally Sleep with at Motel Motel

The Bee's Knees is... uh... the bee's knees?

Local acts Lorntell and the Bee's Knees (no link because their site will harm your computer, according to Google!) opened up for NYC-Denver hipsters Motel Motel at the Middle East Upstairs last night. Bostonist was there to catch a bit of the Knees and Motel squared. Each band was interesting in its own way, though the progression between them felt a little odd.

The Bee's Knees is a bunch of schlubby local guys, playing in "Liquor Barn" softball team t-shirts, wavering between wannabe Wilco tunes and attempts to play harder rock. That may sound a little dismissive, but we actually found the band refreshingly enjoyable, even endearing. The Bee's Knees' set was sort of a rowdy Americana experience with a humble, totally non-hipster feel. We felt a bit like we were at a high school reunion watching our class's former battle of the band winners relive their glory days--again, that's not a bad thing, and it was actually kind of heartwarming.

After the Bee's Knees finished, the evening did a 180, going from hipsterless to exceedingly hipsterful in mere moments. Motel Motel's Eric Engel came out in his white tee and boat shoes, setting his instruments up while wearing dorky glasses but then taking off the specs to look good while performing. Engel's vocals are weird, warbly, and incomprehensible; it's bit off-putting at first, but the style does grow on you. One of the band members is named Mickey, and he's a little Leo-looking (in a good way), while bassist Timothy Sullivan is appropriately scruffy. And oh, that drummer--don't get us started.

Motel Motel plays wall-of-sound hipster rock that brings to mind Islands and White Denim, but dirtied up a little. We think Motel Motel's self-chosen "schwag rock" label is more appropriate than the Americana and alt-country labels that have been slapped on them from time to time. Motel Motel won't be winning awards for musicianship anytime soon, but the band certainly puts on a fine show that's just different enough (owing to the strange vocals and slight country tinge) to be interesting.

The band's new album, New Denver, is out July 16.

Motel Motel is breaking every hipster record imaginable