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American Hotel
www.brookleemusic.com
Long Beach's Brook Lee Catastrophe are breaking a three year silence with a pair of albums this year–the first, the recently released American Hotel, is described as “the soundtrack to the night of your life.”
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Lee's portraits of wounded souls on songs like “Walking Backwards” and the general performance of the band is agreeable enough (George Madrid's blistering solo on “Shades of Grey” deserves notice, it's near-David Gilmour levels of melancholic rage) but the key emotional element of the group comes courtesy of Paul Mitchell's lush violin work, perhaps showcased best on “Not Your Pharmacy” where it ranges from tense thriller movie tones to sweeping romanticism, matched equally well by his piano work.
