Hot Hot Heat
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Elevator
Hot Hot Heat preceded the new wave of new wave by just a few scant months, and while the Vancouver band’s last album, “Make Up the Breakdown,” did just fine, no doubt the group was itching to play catchup with the likes of the Killers and Franz Ferdinand. To its credit, Hot Hot Heat avoids adopting easy New Wave tropes such as squiggly Duran Duran synths or punk-funk rhythms. Instead, much of “Elevator” hearkens back to the adenoidal singer-songwriter model of Joe Jackson and Elvis Costello, with lead yelper Steve Bays front and center in the mix (and his trademark organ playing mixed down). Alas, too much of the disc captures the sound of a band trying too hard.
Best track: “Island of Honest Men,” which would fit right in on a compilation of early ’80s post-punk.
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Edited by Cara DiPasquale ([email protected]) and Kris Karnopp ([email protected])