Making Beds in a Burning House

Troubled Hubble enjoyed some success on college radio with 2003’s “I Love My Canoe” (found on the excellent Penturbia), but don’t let that tasty trifle alone convince you of Troubled Hubble’s worthiness. Key member Christ Otepka is a whiz with stomping rhythm sections and fiercely emphatic guitars, wry humor and bittersweet observations coloring his lyrics. Staying faithful to honest and direct rock/pop ingredients (à la Dr. Dog, the Hold Steady or the Dismemberment Plan; the album is in fact produced by that band’s Jason Caddel) Making Beds In a Burning House is full of delightful, melodic twists and turns, arresting lyrical imagery, and layers of edgy, expressive guitars. Otepka’s voice is enormously engaging, and songs like “14,000 Things to Be Happy About” and “Even Marathon Runners Need to Nap” reveal something new with each listening, startling and charming the listener at the same time.