Hospitality was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

Indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and sub ...

trio from

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, formed in 2007 and consisting of Amber Papini (vocals, guitar), Brian Betancourt (bass) and

Nathan Michel Nathan Michel is an American experimental electronic musician. He primarily composes and performs his music on a laptop. He has released albums on labels such as Tigerbeat6, SKI-PP and Sonig and has collaborated with well-known laptop group DAT p ...

(percussion). The band was signed to

Merge Records Merge Records is an independent record label based in Durham, North Carolina. It was founded in 1989 by Laura Ballance and Mac McCaughan. It began as an outlet for music from their band Superchunk and music created by friends, and has expande ...

and released their first full-length album on January 31, 2012.

History

Papini and Michel met at a party at the

Yale School of Music The Yale School of Music (often abbreviated to YSM) is one of the 12 professional schools at Yale University. It offers three graduate degrees: Master of Music (MM), Master of Musical Arts (MMA), and Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA), as well as a joi ...

. They later married and moved to

Red Hook, Brooklyn Red Hook is a neighborhood in northwestern Brooklyn, New York City, New York, within the area once known as South Brooklyn. It is located on a peninsula projecting into the Upper New York Bay and is bounded by the Gowanus Expressway and the Car ...

. Hospitality released its first self-titled EP in 2008. It came about after the band met

Karl Blau Karl Blau is an American indie rock and country vocalist, producer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, but originally from Anacortes, Washington. A member of the Knw-Yr-Own/K Records collective, he is know ...

at a show they both played at the Cake Shop. Blau heard Hospitality's soundcheck and asked if he could record them in exchange for Hospitality acting as his backing band sometime in the future. The EP garnered a few favorable reviews and earned Hospitality the title of band to watch from Stereogum.com. Hospitality remained quiet for the next few years as Betancourt toured with White Rabbits and Papini tended to a death in the family. They eventually recorded their first full-length album and signed to

in September 2011. The band went on hiatus in 2016 when Papini and Michel started a family and relocated to Charleston.

Critical reception

The band garnered buzz from ''

Wired ''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San Fra ...

'',

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and others even before releasing their debut. The album was met with generally positive reviews. Pitchfork.com gave it a 7.4,

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...

rated it an "A−" and ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' awarded 4 out of 5 stars.

Whitney Matheson Whitney Matheson (born April 21, 1977, in Fredericksburg, Virginia) is a pop culture writer. She was the author of ''Pop Candy'', a popular entertainment blog which was part of ''USA Today'' from 1999–2014. She also wrote entertainment and pop ...

of ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

s 'Pop Candy' named it her album of the week after its debut. The album was listed at #32 on

's list of the top 50 albums of 2012, saying "Indie-pop cuteness this severely catchy doesn’t come around too often." The first video from the album, for the song "Friends of Friends," debuted on Stereogum.com on January 23, 2012. It featured

Alia Shawkat Alia Martine Shawkat ( ; ar, عليا مارتين شوكت; born April 18, 1989) is an American actress. She is known for her roles in '' The Old Man'', '' State of Grace'', Maeby Fünke in the Fox/Netflix television sitcom ''Arrested Develop ...

of ''

Arrested Development The term "arrested development" has had multiple meanings for over 200 years. In the field of medicine, the term "arrested development" was first used, ''circa'' 1835–1836, to mean a stoppage of physical development; the term continues to be use ...

'',

comedian A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing Amusement is the state of experiencing humorous and entertaining events or situations while the person or a ...

Kurt Braunohler Kurt Braunohler (born February 22, 1976) is an American comedian and co-host of the podcast ''Bananas'' on Exactly Right Podcast Network. He was previously the host of IFC's comedy game show '' Bunk'' and has appeared on Comedy Central, ''This ...

and Gabe Delahaye of Videogum.com.

Discography

Albums

*''Hospitality'' (2012) *''Trouble'' (2014)

EPs

*''Hospitality'' (2008) * ''The Drift b/w Monkey'' (2012)

Singles

*"Friends of Friends" (2011) *"Betty Wang" (2011) * "The Drift" (2012) * "Monkey" (2012)

References

External links

Official Merge Records page

Official Fire Records page

Hospitality
on MySpace
Hospitality
on

Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online audio distribution platform founded in 2007 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with headquarters in Oakland, California, US. On March 2, 2022, Bandcamp ...

{{Authority control Indie pop groups from New York (state) Musical quartets Musical groups established in 2007 Musical groups disestablished in 2014 Musical groups from Brooklyn Merge Records artists