Hot Hot Heat - Make Up The Breakdown

Hot Hot Heat makes some remarkably addictive music. But what's even more remarkable is that Make Up The Breakdown, an album full of pop-rock, comes after a lineup change and a style jump away from keyboard-driven hardcore. Make no mistake; with a distinct sound that alludes, in some ways, to Elvis Costello (musically, at least), these Vancouver, BC gents have probably changed for the best. Perhaps the one hurdle you'll have to clear before enjoying this album is vocalist/keyboardist Steve Bay's voice. At some times whiny, some times strained, some times wailing, and some times actually harmonious, he at least adds some character to the 10 songs that make up the album. Though, as far as the band goes, you couldn't ask for a more interesting one. These guys, bassist Dustin Hawthorne, drummer Paul Hawley, and guitarist Dante DeCaro, do their best to break out of what is expected on them; within a pop sensibility, they move from post-punk, to dissonant interludes, to dance and back again. As for the vocal melodies, they are times pleasing and at other times catchy. The opener, "Naked In The City Again," introduces Bay's somewhat incessantly sprawling vocal style. "Get In Or Get Out" is the first song to introduce a hook, and, combined with the bouncy chorus, it's a damn good one. "Bandages," the single (you know, the one on MTV2 with Brazil-inspired face stretching video), features both the most difficult vocals throughout the verses and the most mindlessly, affecting sing-a-long chorus of the album. But perhaps the tightest song of the lot is "Save Us S.O.S.". It's in that song that the band locks in and navigates through the songs accenting its dynamic changes together. It's in that song that Hot Hot Heat clearly show that they have the goods to back up the hype. [www.hothotheat.com]