![The Explorers Club - Grand Hotel](https://newreleasesnow.imgix.net/the-explorers-club-grand-hotel.jpg?ar=1%3A1&auto=format%2Ccompress&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&ixlib=php-2.1.1&q=25&w=20&s=5e30d0b27aa853c6305bcf0c8ef2f5f5)
'While there's an undeniable, late-'60s sunshine pop vibe to many of the arrangements here, from the vocal harmonies to the horn sections, the Explorers Club nevertheless seems to have simultaneously inched along a little further on the calendar and widened their target.
The band hasn't gotten the Beach Boys entirely out of its system, though, and Pet Sounds-worthy harmonies pop up on even the most '70s-sounding of these songs, with agreeable results; Burt Bacharach-style arrangements adorn some tracks as well, enabling the Explorers Club to achieve a kind of momentary state of lounge-pop satori.
And one of the most impressive aspects of the whole endeavor is the fact that a bunch of South Carolina musicians were able to spiritually transport themselves so definitively to a Southern California state of mind.'
- All Music Guide