http://www.hothotheat.com/

Have you almost given up hope on hearing any first-rate, innovative music from Canada? Face it, when Canadian pop/rock music comes to mind, who do you think of? Perhaps the piercingly unpleasant vocals of Celine Dion, or the "good 'ole boy/wannabe bad-boy" charm Bryan Adams brought us? And, let's not forget the classic rock anthems of Rush. Fear not, ye quality-starved audiophiles - the Canadian music scene hasn't failed us completely. May I introduce, Hot Hot Heat.

There's no better way to describe their music, than what is posted on their Sub Pop band page: "Combining '60's mod rock, '70's prog and 80's new wave/punk, these four have created their own style of danceable pop oddities." Formed in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada in 1999 the group has managed to pull together a sound that, while oddly familiar, seems novel in it's intent. Citing such musical influences as XTC, Elvis Costello and The Cure, Hot Hot Heat interprets them for us in an interesting "I'm cabbage-patching and trying not to be caught" kind of way. The rebirth of new wave shouldn't really be a surprise since we, twenty-somethings, didn't get to revel in it originally.

With so much allusion to The Cure, it's interesting to note that the parallel might never have been made if keyboardist Steve Bays hadn't taken over lead vocals for the group. To the displeasure of many fans, they gave the boot to the original singer in winter of 2000. Proving to be a wise move for this young troupe of musicians from up north, it has made their music more accessible, rather than the D.I.Y. punk sound from their past.

In an interview with OFFBEAT magazine, Steve Bays elaborates on why the band kept the name Hot Hot Heat after switching singers and styles, "We're going to be changing our sound constantly, and if we change our name now, we're going to have to change it in a year when the band changes again. This time it happened to be a drastic change because we don't have the same singer, and a lot of people identify emotionally with the singer of a band." Paul Hawley (drummer), Dante DeCaro (guitarist) and Dustin Hawthorne (bassist) complete the band's lineup and have a median age of 23.

HHH will release their first full-length in the winter of 2002 on Sub Pop Records. A full list of the previous EP's can also be found on their official homepage so you can hear what they sounded like pre-Y2K. Thank gawd these Canucks have seen the light and have chosen to take the rawkin' path less traveled by their fellow countrymen.

-Julie Smith