Motel Beds Mind Glitter

The Motel Beds are back! Though last year saw the Misra Records-released “hits” collection, These Are the Days Gone By, Mind Glitter is the group’s first proper full-length in three years—which may not seem long until one realizes that they released five albums in the period between 2009 and 2012. All of which makes Mind Glitter pretty special. Starting this album as soon as the previous one’s final tracks were done (guitarist DERL ROBBINS, who also helped engineer the last few Guided By Voices albums, records the band himself), they’ve had 36 months to throw out hooks, choruses, puns and bad jokes, and then try them all out in front of live audiences. What materialized are some of the most varied and beautiful songs the band has laid down yet. Highlights are scattered all around—the waves of acoustic guitar and drums that kick off “Open Ocean,” the gorgeous Beach Boys harmonies of “Queens for the Summer,” the airy psychedelic drone of “Paper Trees,” the unrelenting, fist-pumping riff from “Live City,” the pure ’90s-ness of the breakdown on “Set Ender.” Throwing a sweaty arm around you, the band closes with crowd-pleaser “We’ve Killed More for Less.”