hospitalship

Listeners tripping out to “Acid Room” Los Angeles, CA – “Acid Room” is the top single from Hospital Ship’s recent self-titled album. It has quickly become an audience favorite, exposing listeners to the eclectic quirk that defines the Hospital Ship approach. “Acid Room” both does and doesn’t represent who Hospital Ship is. It doesn’t in that the band’s album covers a broad range of flavors, everything from folk songs to grunge rock. “Acid Room” does, however, help demonstrate who Hospital Ship is via its transcendent and singular style. The listener finds him- or herself confronted with an amalgam of genre influences that sounds like anything but an amalgam. The different styles are so sublimely merged one instantly feels much that is familiar, yet is struck by the originality – and by the difficulty of breaking down exactly what ingredients have gone into this musical soup. Sifting through “Acid Room,” one discovers the old school acid rock one would expect from the title (thought that actually has nothing to do with the song’s name – see below), singer-songwriter elements, the Seattle Sub-Pop sound (whatever that is), elements all across the spectrum of the elusive and ill-defined “indie” genre, emo (though with none of the dripping smarm-and-whine sauce) – in short, one finds a song that can truly be called nothing more – or less – than good music. (That’s the true mark of a great or terrible artist, when attempts to pigeonhole bring only confusion; but there’s nothing terrible about Hospital Ship, so the listener is left to do the math.) Hospital Ship began its life in 2004 when Mike Achenbach and Kevin Short – who had been doing gigs independently of each other in a number of different bands – put their brains together and the combined chemistry sparked. The band started recording, took a hiatus, and came back with more songs (so much for hiatus). The result: a 17-track album which hit the streets via www.amiestreet.com, topping off at No. 5 on the Buzz Band charts. Many copies sold. Despite the fact that much more material awaits recording, Hospital Ship has been devoting its time and attention to touring and promotion of its self-titled official debut. There was an unofficial debut prior to this, a demo with a curious history – said history containing the secret to the name of “Acid Room.” Kevin Short explains: “The Flaming Lips first major release was called ‘Acid,’ and our band’s name came from the song ‘The Abandoned Hospital Ship’ by The Flaming Lips. Wayne [of The Flaming Lips] has a demo of ours that he took at a show in Philadelphia. He thanked the band for the CD.” Hospital Ship has also been played on the air in Edinburgh, Scotland – on the “Fresh Air – The Alternative” radio program (www.freshair.org) – as well as appearing on college radio stations. The band is currently working with A&R Select, the premier A&R firm based out of Los Angeles, CA. More information is available by visiting www.myspace.com/hospitalshipband, www.promofm.com/Hospital_Ship and www.arselect.com/hospital_ship