Style for miles, Nied’s Hotel Band has a fantastic flare-up of fanfare on “Merry Christmas Baby”. The instrumental variety adds to the inherent color scheme of the work. Vocals, horns, and the sheer heft of the guitar come together into this truly gigantic sound. Indeed, much of it has a cinematic flourish to it for there is this attention-grabbing quality. Full of a great deal of detail they make every twist and turn count. Best of all it has that animalistic, lust for life presence that undoubtedly works to their skillset.
They burst out onto the scene with such vigor. From there the group become ever larger and more powerful. Each additional reiteration of the sound feels outright joyous. Layer upon layer comes into the fray making sure that every single crevice of the theme is explored in full. An intoxicating approach means that it is easy to find oneself in this churning sea of grooves and rhythms. Beyond the jazz-like element, they are much more firmly placed in the very core of the blues. Such a celebration of the style further adds the right level of clarity into the work. By the time they reach the final stretch of the thing it all has that sense of finality to it, as they have created this teeming aural universe.
“Merry Christmas Baby” has a commanding presence about it, showing off the deft skill of Nied’s Hotel Band in crafting a universe that has a grandeur to it.