Elevator is Hot Hot Heat's first effort in three years, and
a period whose length is likely attributed to the fact that writing for
the band's major label debut resulted in roughly 30 scrapped songs. The
band had begun collaborating on new material during tour support of
2002's Make Up The Breakdown,
and, unhappy with the material, tossed it out, reportedly due to, among
other complaints, that despite the "darker, more expansive" nature,
they were essentially writing the same record over. So while Elevator
certainly has its differences, it's funny that in many ways, it's still
deathly similar to its predecessor, at least at the band's foundation.
It's a fun, immensely catchy pop record that retains the band's
trademark quirk and clever angle on pseudo-sappy relationship outtakes
and bizzarre personal narratives.
The major difference this time around is how largely a Strokes
influence runs through the record, notably in the guitar tone and
occasional vocal inflection. In the former, it sometimes gives off an
unnatural twang akin to the majority of Room On Fire.
The latter, at times, will have Steve Bays singing in a similar,
near-drunken and almost incomprehensible, rambled slur, especially in
"Jingle Jangle" or certain moments of "Pickin' It Up" and the bridge of
"Island Of The Honest Man." While many may have lazily lumped both into
the nü-garage movement at the time of the band's previous effort, any
resulting comparisons this time around seem a lot more logistically
certified.
After a bunch of muffled, interspersed voices in the disc's
intro track, "Running Out Of Time" begins with a baseball
announcer-esque fervor; the organs have that definitively sport-like,
mid-inning feel. The transition to the verse is slightly artless, but
several among the record's transitions are like this - not so much
clumsy as they are surprisingly ungraceful. Ironically enough, the two
songs with the most awkward transitions from verse to chorus are two of
the tracks that stand out; lead single "Goodnight Goodnight" suddenly
jumps to jangled guitar chords in its sugary beats from its
off-kiltered, subtle organ in the verses, and "Island Of The Honest
Man" forgets to build as Bays hastily wails "Welcome to the island of the honest man! Do what you want - there is no need to impress us" following the dance pop-driven shake of its verses.
Up until track 7, the record seems to fly by. By the time a listener
will have glanced down to check the status, half of it has released
itself through the speakers. However, at this point it slows down a
bit, balancing out Elevator.
The dragging tempos prove the former half offer the best material as
this type of pace is unusual for the band, but nod-worthy tracks like
the record's comparative ballad, "Middle Of Nowhere," and "Dirty Mouth"
with its acoustically-driven introduction are served up modestly, as
well as the throwback cynicism of the closing title track.
While fairly disappointing for the fans who fell for Hot Hot
Heat's vividly consistent approach to perfectly produced synth-pop
hooks and Cure-inspired moodiness, Elevator
is hardly compromising and a more than decent effort for the
abovementioned reasons. True, the band has likely already hit their
musical peak, but thankfully, it'll apparently be a gradual way down
via the conveyor belt.
Listen Here:
http://www.altsounds.com/altsounds/bands/713/ 
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Hot Hot Heat - Elevator (CD)
