Hot Hot Heat's Elevator on the way down
EDJR000020050402e1420003l
Culture
Sandra Sperounes
The Edmonton Journal
760 Words
02 April 2005
Edmonton Journal
Final
E3
English
Copyright © 2005 Edmonton Journal
CD: ELEVATOR
Artist: Hot Hot Heat
Label: Warner
Best track: Island of the Honest Man, Dirty Mouth
Rating: 3 (out of five)
Releasing an album is like waiting for an elevator.
- - -
As the cables heave and wheels rumble behind the door, you're never quite sure where the lift is headed until it actually hits your floor. When
it does, the wrong arrow always seems to light up. You want to go up, the elevator is going down. You want to go down, it's on the way up.
In a matter of days, the wait for Hot Hot Heat's much-anticipated followup to 2002's Make up the Breakdown will be over. (Tuesday, to be
precise.) The Victoria natives, who now live in Vancouver, are obviously hoping their dance-punk Elevator will carry them from the lobby of potential
stars to the penthouse of rock 'n' roll's hotel.
But, chances are, the lift won't ever arrive and Steve Bays, bassist Dustin Hawthorne, drummer Paul Hawley and new guitarist Luke Paquin
will be stuck on the same floor with the rest of the acts who couldn't quite live up to our impossible expectations. Acts such as The
Liars, Ryan Adams, The Unicorns, Ima Robot, OK Go, Radio 4 and Moby. (See below.)
That's because Hot Hot Heat's timing is all wrong.
Back in 2002, Make up the Breakdown was a critical success because it was one of the first of a deluge of dance-punk albums.
While Canadian radio stations didn't know what to do with songs such as Bandages and Talk To Me, Dance With Me, Hot Hot Heat's boppy synth
rhythms and herky, percussive vocal stylings found a home on British airwaves and prompted U.S. publications to peg the group as "one to
watch."
Nowadays, Rating 3 has many competitors -- including Franz Ferdinand, The Killers and The Kaiser Chiefs, three acts who weren't even on our radar
when Hot Hot Heat were initially warming up our toes. They've raised the bar with songs such as Take Me Out, Somebody Told Me and Oh My God, and
sadly, Rating 3's Elevator doesn't rise to the challenge. Indeed, Make up the Breakdown is the stronger, snappier of the two and
should've been released as the group's second album. If only.
It's as if Hot Hot Heat were so stressed about making Elevator, they decided to record a bunch of songs as quickly as possible, just to get some
out of the way. The first seven tracks seem to whiz by without much notice -- only Running Out Of Time and Jingle Jangle, a weary Strokes-like tale
about a misunderstood salesman, dangle like a carrot, urging fans to keep listening.
It's not until the last half of the album that Hot Hot Heat settle down, get comfortable and lay down a few memorable grooves. Island of the
Honest Man is a speedy disco number, complete with gasping-to-catch-up vocals by Bays. Middle of Nowhere cranks along with clanking guitars and
tinkling keyboards while Dirty Mouth, with its jangly, Johnny Marr guitars and jumpy chorus, is the catchiest of the lot. "Smalltown girls and
boys make too much noise, so I keep to myself," sings Bays.
As usual, he writes stinging social commentaries -- such as "Jingle jangle, that's the sound of coins spent on/Useless toys made for useless
boys" -- but he's softened the over-accentuated, yelping delivery which made him stand out from all the other new-wave, Robert Smith-like
vocalists.
Instead of emphasizing various syllables or using a variety of different tempos as if he was drumming out his words, Bays now sings most of his lines
and often ends up sounding like a mix of Elvis Costello, The Strokes and the dude from Canada's long-forgotten synth-pop group from the '80s
-- The Spoons. Remember Romantic Traffic? Or Tell No Lies?
Will we remember Bays and his boys in another 20 years? Probably not. Elevator going down.
Hot Hot Heat perform April 13 at Red's with The Futureheads and Louis XIV.
Tickets are $21.50 (plus service charges) at Ticketmaster.
ssperounes@thejournal.canwest.com
HEAR A CLIP
Listen to Hot Hot Heat's new CD, Elevator. www.edmontonjournal.com and click on Online Extras
Photo: Supplied / Hot Hot Heat; Photo: Journal Stock / (CD cover: Elevator by Hot Hot Heat.)
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So it makes it un-original. . . .
