Hot Hot Heat: Elevator

     Hot Hot Heat...didn't see that comin' did ya. I do have a soft spot for Canadian bands. Now, I'm not autograph guy. I've never even asked anyone for their autograph. I almost asked Will Johnson to sign my Fender Telecaster, but I chickened out. The only autographed item I have is a Hot Hot Heat promo poster from one of their shows. A girl I worked with in Detroit told me she needed a night off to go to a show. I asked who she was going to see and she said Hot Hot Heat. I was a big fan of the song "Bandages" from their first album Make Up The Breakdown and I liked what I'd heard from Elevator, so I was jazzed for her. The next time I worked with her after the show, she came over to me all excited and said she had something for me. She handed me a LP sized show poster from their Elevator tour signed by the whole band. It was awesome. I'm sure the band were excited to sign it for her. Let's just say she was a "healthy" girl who had a piercing in her cleavage. This almost made up for the fact she was bat shit crazy and a complete and utter train wreck at work:) It is one of the nicest things anyone has done for me, though.
     Hot Hot Heat are one of those bands, for me, with one album I love and the rest of their stuff I can't stand. That album is Elevator. As I mentioned, I was a huge fan of the song "Bandages" in 2002. I was such a fan that I bought the CD on the strength of that one song. I couldn't stand the rest of it. In fact, I tried to sell it in a garage sale for a dollar and no one bought it. I decided to keep it for "Bandages". When Elevator came out I wasn't predisposed to go out and buy it...until I heard "Middle Of Nowhere". What a perfect song. So, I took a leap of faith and bought Elevator. It starts out with what sounds like an olde tyme radio show, then they strike hard with two high energy, catchy songs "Running Out Of Time" and "Goodnight Goodnight". Hot Hot Heat could be dismissed as another Franz Ferdinand type of band, but rather than being stiff and aloof they are infectious and goofy. Elevator is a perfect storm of pop hooks, witty lyrics and great melodies. On this album, I feel their sound is more indebted to Elvis Costello and the Attractions and Nick Lowe than Franz Ferdinand and Louis XIV. It's angular, up-tempo and a little spastic. The track that best illustrates this is "Pickin' It Up". It's straight out of the late 70's / early 80's. And it has hand claps! The gem, however, is "Middle Of Nowhere". Oddly, it's the least spastic-y, straight forward song on the CD. It's all about the melody and the vocals. The word "baby' has been used in rock songs a bazilliondy times, but Steve Bays delivers it perfectly in this song. Elevator is killer from start to finish. It's a fantastic collection of songs about laid back Canadian guys dealing with crazy chicks as best as they can. I cannot recommend it strongly enough.
     That being said, I bought their next album, Happiness LTD, and couldn't stand it. Apparently, they put out another album in 2010. It may be amazing, I have no idea, but I'm not going to get it. I'll just stick with Elevator. Peace.