Hot Hot Heat - 'Make Up The Breakdown' (Sub Pop)
4/5
By: Toby L
Groovier than an Afro atop the skull of John Travolta having a dance-off contest with Har Mar Superstar, Hot Hot Heat are a part of the sex-fuelled dance-rock craze that is continually sweeping the nation. Even if none of the performers involved are strictly originating from the UK.
Still, when you have the varied and not-at-all-alike-one-another-yet-still-sonically-linked-somehow likes of The Rapture, The Faint and Radio 4 all competing for attention without even distinctly trying that hard, then it's quite apparent that something special is a-brewin'. With HHH, however, it seems that the latest additions to such a slowly-cramming pack are mustering a hybrid of sounds that helplessly evoke The Cure, Television, Ben Folds Five and At The Drive-In in just the same song for f**k's sake ('Save Us So's'). Melodic, then.
But simultaneously schizophrenic, shape-shifting and dynamic enough to flare into the realms of all-out punk, post-adolescent indie, and epic keyboard wizardry worthy of prog. Amusingly, as if they weren't, Dustin Hawthorne - chief-howler frontman - manages to bellow, 'Why can't we be creative,' almost in complete nonchalance of the perfected parade of pop that they strikingly purvey.
Rewardingly, like a good affair, it ends quickly (after thirty-two frolicking minutes), and with a satisfied grin in your face. But never once does the duration experienced prove predictable - especially with the downbeat, piano-tinkering 'In Cairo' to the organ-dosage lounge-sliminess of 'Aveda', and that's after gallivanting leaps through frantic anthem-material - 'Get In Or Get Out', or the boldly wonderful bout of untamed fuzziness of 'Bandages'.
'This Town' meanwhile evokes all the dreamy romanticism of a theme-tune to a preppie-boy teen-drama whilst 'Oh, Goddamnit', 'Naked In The City Again' and the Bowie-esque 'Talk To Me, Dance With Me' are every bit as salivating and tempestuously ragged as their names suggest.
Anyone seeking lyrical proficiency or an element of sophisticated philosophy may be duly disappointed, but the chances are - if you're researching such materials from rock-music - you need to lighten up anyway. This record will show you the way - and, trust us, the results will sound sublime.
Artists in this article: Hot Hot Heat
Your Feedback
Login to post your comment