200 Motels

by Steve Davenport

29 January 2007

200 Motels rose from the ashes of the Kim Roberts Band (KRB) but on the evidence of its eponymous debut EP the band is simply KRB regurgitated. This is both the band's strength and its weakness. Having all ones eggs in one basket or in this case all the focus in one band member means that everything needs to be handled with the utmost sensitivity.

There is no doubt that Roberts writes popularly infectious tunes and sought after solid rock/pop songs. In fact, Kim Roberts is a jack-of-all-trades. As well as singer, guitarist, songwriter, composer and artist, she also plays piano and designed the cover art for the EP. But with all that influence, the band’s passion, energy and direction naturally stems from her. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing as all the songs on 200 Motels are written by Roberts and apparently arranged by the band. These arrangements don’t stand out because “Missing Out” sounds exactly the same as it did when Roberts released it as a solo artist on “Show Us Your Riffs.”

All six songs on the EP are consistently firm original songs with hard pulsing and powerful rhythms but melodically a little undernourished. “Waiting Game,” “In My Head”, “Flight” and “Fear” are everything anyone would expect from the original KRB except Louise Uphill’s guitar playing has vastly improved on this recording.

200 Motels is putting in the hard yards and laying the foundation with decent contemporary rock. There is no reason why 200 Motels can’t expand into 400 Motels and then 600 Hotels. The future looks bright and especially when the rest of the band exerts some influence into the music.

A highly credible and competent release.