Hot Hot Heat Hark Back To Future Breeds

I'll be the first to admit that I kind of forgot about Hot Hot Heat. They went from appealing to the white belt crowd, to being on Sub Pop, to being on a major label, to basically losing all credibility. For whatever reason, the band fell off the radar for a few years but have recently resurfaced on the ever brilliant Dangerbird Records. Now on their own and allowed to pretty much do whatever they want with a great label backing them the band have taken a trip back to their humble beginning's on their latest album, Future Breeds.

The funny thing about Future Breeds is that it sounds like a combination of Make Up The Breakdown and their first record Scenes One Thru Thirteen, which really is not a bad thing at all. Future Breedsis an impressive effort that makes it seem as if Hot Hot Heat pretty much took all the commercial success they built up with their major label albums and threw it out the window. This is a rough, raw, and very cool record that's unafraid to be exactly what it wants. It's that carefree attitude that has allowed Hot Hot Heat to revisit what made them who they are and make a pretty darn good record as a result. With broken synths reverbing around, rough guitars grinding away, and Steve Bays characteristic vocals echoing around this record sounds as if it's the turn of the century all over again and the indie explosion hasn't happened yet.

I may have given up on this band, but Future Breedshas totally reaffirmed my belief in them. This is a great record that succeeds thanks to a sense of freedom and a sense of originality that had been seriously lacking from their last two albums. This is Hot Hot Heat remembering how good they used to be and recapturing that spirit. Songs like "YVR," show that the band still are melodic but have a renewed sense of urgency to them. It's post punk with a sense of a tune and it's fantastic. The band have found their souls again and they're running away with them. From the strange, "Times a Thousand," to the cracked synths of "JFK's LSD," you can't help but love the fact that Hot Hot Heat have gotten fantastic all over again. Future Breeds is a return to form and statement of intent and it's an album worth hearing repeatedly. Nice to have you back guys.