If you’re looking for the source of the indie rock
wildfire sweeping the nation, you’ll find it in the Great
White North. Canada’s Hot Hot Heat is bringing its unique
brand of frenzied rock music to UCLA on Friday.
Concert goers can expect to hear songs from the forthcoming
album “Elevator,” as well as their radio single
“Bandages.”
“At the time when “˜Bandages’ was a single on
the radio, (it was) sandwiched between Godsmack and
Disturbed,” bassist Dustin Hawthorne said.
Things have certainly changed since 2002, when the band released
“Make Up the Breakdown” on Subpop Records. Hot Hot Heat
has since joined its fellow rock revivalists The Strokes and The
White Stripes in the major leagues, receiving MTV airplay and
landing a deal with Warner Brothers’ Sire Records. Despite
having a legion of up-and-coming bands to contend with, the April
release “Elevator” may be able to return Hot Hot Heat
to the top of the charts.
“The frantic, nervous energy that we’re known for,
that was preserved (in “˜Elevator’),” said
Hawthorne.
Years before Franz Ferdinand and Interpol made it cool to dance
to rock music again, Hot Hot Heat was playing syncopated rhythms
and minor chords. Signing with Warner was an opportunity to take a
chance with their much-appropriated sound.
“We had the time to experiment with different things,
which we didn’t have at all when we recorded the last record.
(The first time), I tracked my parts in six hours. Paul did the
drums in one day. The jump was definitely really
substantial,” Hawthorne said.
Aside from cleaner guitar tones and better takes, attentive Hot
Hot Heat fans might notice a trace of hip-hop at the Bruin Plaza
concert. Hawthorne partly credits the subtle presence of the new
genre in the band’s music to a hip-hop collective record
called “Subtle” that he received. He also admits to
having developed an interest in listening to music by Jay-Z and
Gang Star.
“Because I play the bass and I’m partly in charge of
the rhythm section, (hip-hop) does come through,” Hawthorne
said. “It’s not going to be an obvious influence, but
I’d say it probably has seeped into my subconsciousness
somehow.”
Indie purists have no need to worry. The band is still a far cry
from identifying itself as a hip-hop group, and their performances
remain a showcase of high energy sounds and youthful
exuberance.
Hot Hot Heat warmed up their live show in their native turf of
British Columbia, playing seven shows for hometown audiences before
heading south of the border. With the backing of Warner Brothers,
the band plans on burning up stages across the country on a larger
tour later this year, but for now Hot Hot Heat is only playing at
select venues.
Specifically, the L.A. concert scene has been good to the group,
and Hawthorne anticipates his return to sunny Southern
California.
“L.A.’s been a really supportive city … for
us,” he said. “The first time we played there, we
couldn’t believe how people responded. (This show is) just to
give back to Los Angeles what it has given to us.”