Entertainment - NEWSDAY
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Bizarre pop-rockers with energy to burn


BY RAFER GUZMÁN
STAFF WRITER

May 23, 2005


A one-hour concert might seem short by normal standards, but Hot Hot Heat is not a normal band. Even a fan (and I am one) would have to admit that a little of its music goes a long, long way.

The Vancouver-based foursome is responsible for "Goodnight Goodnight," a jumpy pop single that's become a minor hit at alternative rock radio. With its cartoony organ and singer Steve Bays' semi-sensical lyrics ("So goodnight, goodnight/You're embarrassing me, you're embarrassing you/So goodnight"), the song sounds like nothing else out there.

Hot Hot Heat grabbed American ears in 2002 with its Sub Pop album "Makeup the Breakdown," which spawned the cult hit "Bandages." That album, plus the nifty EP "Knock Knock Knock," borrowed from early '60s rock and '80s new wave (especially brainy bands such as XTC and The Specials) to create a distinctively spazzy, manic type of pop music. The band's latest disc, "Elevator" (Sire/Warner Bros.) offers a fairly subdued version of its nutty sound. And as the band ran through songs both old and new Friday night, the differences were noticeable.

The older material was more angular, with nagging rhythms and melodies that leapt around wildly. "No, Not Now" was driven by a single pulsing keyboard note (played by Bays) that gave way to chunks of melody crammed together in a short space. On "Get In Or Get Out," guitarist Luke Paquin stuck a bittersweet guitar-loop into what was otherwise a chirpy little tune. "Bandages" stumbled forward on Bays' loop-de-loop lyrics: "I've been poking a voodoo doll that you do not know I made/For you/Of you/Let's see what needles do."

The newer songs, by contrast, were smoother and (relatively) more accessible. "Elevator" sounded like a conventional rock tune with a middling tempo and a chugging guitar. "Pickin' It Up" had a sing-along chorus. On the evening's final song, "Running Out Of Time," Bays delivered his trademark brain-teaser verbiage ("Screenplay players cowriting a screenplay"), but the chords were almost mellifluous.

With its ADD-addled song structures and head-scratching wardrobe (motorcycle jackets, vests, ascots), Hot Hot Heat is definitely one of the most original bands around. And you could pick Bays out of any crowd: Just look for the guy with the cascading ringlets of hair and a face more adorable than Elmo the Muppet's. It's understandable why a major label would try to tone the band down a bit, but that's like putting Pee-Wee Herman in Armani - there's no hiding the utter weirdness underneath.

And as with Pee-Wee, there's only so much Hot Hot Heat a person can take in one sitting. After all the hyperactive rhythms and mathematical melodies were over, one hour seemed just about right.

HOT HOT HEAT. A concentrated effort. Friday at Webster Hall.

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my brother saw them and he said they were much better a few months ago. But at least it is better than the review bright eyes got, it was right above this on in the paper, here is the link, it is pretty funnyconor

The whole Steve Bays/Pee Wee Herman thing kind of creeps me out.

I caught the Bright Eyes/Faint tour, and I'd have to agree with the whole review.