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Hot Hot Heat | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Hot Hot Heat in 2007 | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Victoria, British Columbia, Canada |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 1999–2016, 2023–2024 |
| Labels | |
| Past members | Steve Bays Paul Hawley Dante DeCaro Parker Bossley Luke Paquin Louis Hearn Dustin Hawthorne Matthew Marnik |
| Website | hothotheat |
Hot Hot Heat was a Canadianindie rock band fromVictoria,British Columbia, formed in 1999. The band was signed to Seattle labelSub Pop in 2001 andWarner Records throughout the majority of their career.
The band has released five full-length albums to date, their first and critically acclaimed,Make Up the Breakdown (2002),Elevator (2005),Happiness Ltd. (2007),Future Breeds (2010) and their last before disbanding,Hot Hot Heat (2016). The band's style makes use of electronic and traditional instruments and has variously been categorized asdance-punk,post-punk revival, andart-punk.[citation needed]
After five years of scant activity following the touring cycle ofFuture Breeds in 2011, on March 13, 2016, Hot Hot Heat announced new music with a limited edition 7" record, "Nature of Things" which was released for April 16, 2016, in participation withRecord Store Day that year. Preceding that release, on April 5, the group officially announced they had disbanded and would release their fifth and final self-titled album on June 24, 2016, via Kaw-Liga Records, with the album's lead single, "Kid Who Stays in the Picture" premiering alongside the announcement.[2][3]
Following an eight year hiatus, Hot Hot Heat reunited at the end of 2023, with the release of their comeback single, "Shock Me" on December 1, 2023.[4] However, the reunion would be extremely short-lived following an announcement by the group on January 26, 2024, stating all intentions to release new material and subsequent live performances were effectively cancelled. The reasoning was further explained in part due to lead vocalist and primary songwriterSteve Bays no longer being able to commit to the group's plans.[5]
Dustin Hawthorne, a drugstore clerk, and Steve Bays, a personal assistant, had been in many different bands together since 1995 and met Paul Hawley in 1998. In 1999, Hawley bought aJuno 6 keyboard and asked Bays to try playing it, as no one else knew how. Hawley took over the drums from Bays and Hawthorne played bass. Matthew Marnik, who was a friend of the band, sang vocals. The band's original sound can be consideredelectropunk.
The band soon changed direction to a more melodic, pop-influenced style, losing Marnik and adding guitaristDante DeCaro. Strongly influenced by thenew wave sound of 1980s bandsthe Cure,XTC,the Clash, andElvis Costello andthe Attractions, the new lineup, with Steve on vocals, quickly released a series of 7" singles and toured extensively in Canada and the American Pacific Northwest, joining up with similarly styled indie rock bands such asLes Savy Fav,the French Kicks,Radio 4,Ima Robot, andPretty Girls Make Graves, and opening for established Canadian rockersSloan on a national tour.
The band's touring exposure attracted the interest of Seattle record labelSub Pop, who signed Hot Hot Heat in 2001, leading to the early 2002 release of EPKnock Knock Knock, produced in part byChris Walla ofDeath Cab for Cutie. Although Hot Hot Heat got its start as a hardcore band, by the time it made contact with Sub Pop, its sound had mutated into what would soon be known as dance-punk. The band stood at the forefront of a movement that would explode on the indie rock scene within another year.[6] That release was followed up quickly by the band's first full-length release,Make Up the Breakdown, produced byNirvana andSoundgarden producerJack Endino.
That album quickly found critical acclaim, and its singles "Bandages" and "Talk to Me, Dance With Me" received regular airplay onMTV and radio, including influential Los Angeles, California stationKROQ-FM, on whose charts both reached No. 1.
However, their track "Bandages" was removed from radio in the UK, from the playlist atBBC Radio 1, in the light of the war in the Middle East. This was thought to have hindered its position at No. 25 in the UK charts. The track had been on the B list on the station, guaranteeing 15 plays a week and a potential audience of millions. It was removed because of a "prevalence of the word 'bandages' in the song", a spokesperson said.[7] In 2002, the band signed withWarner in the U.S.[8]
In 2003, the band re-released the 2001 album of tracks recorded prior to their Sub Pop recordings,Scenes One Through Thirteen, on the OHEV Records label. Reflecting the band's transition period between their original sound and the present, and thus very much unlike what fans had heard onKnock Knock Knock andMake Up the Breakdown.
In 2004,Make Up the Breakdown won "Favourite Album" at theCanadian Independent Music Awards by popular vote. Guitarist Dante DeCaro announced his departure from the band in October 2004, but stayed to complete their next album, and in 2005 joinedMontreal bandWolf Parade. That album,Elevator was the band's major label debut and was released commercially byWarner Bros. In April 2005, Dante handed guitar duties over to replacement Luke Paquin when the band started their 2005 tour. In JuneElevator appeared in the top ten of the !earshot Campus and Community Radio chart.[9]
In 2005, the band opened forWeezer andFoo Fighters on the "Foozer Tour".
Hot Hot Heat played an opening set for American synth rock groupthe Killers atRed Rocks Amphitheatre on May 17, 2007. However, the Killers were forced to pull out after three songs because lead singerBrandon Flowers was suffering from bronchitis.
The group's follow-up toElevator and third studio album,Happiness Ltd., was released on September 11, 2007. In late March 2007, the band posted the song "Give Up?" on theirMyspace page as a sample of the album, and it was released on iTunes as a single on May 15. A second single entitled "Let Me In" was released on July 16.
Hot Hot Heat toured in 2007 withSnow Patrol as their opening act on the U.S. leg of their summer tour. Their headlining tour of Germany, Canada and U.S. started September 3, 2007.
"Let Me In" debuted onKROQ-FM at number 8. On August 8, 2007, the music video for "Let Me In" premiered on Myspace Music. Also, on September 6, 2007, Hot Hot Heat posted their new album on their Myspace.
The band spent most of 2008/2009 recording and constructing their own studio. Experimenting with 5/4 disco grooves and electro loops, they went into the studio with producer/musicianRyan Dahle fromLimblifter/Age of Electric awhile doing a brief Canadian tour opening forBloc Party.
On September 24, 2008, Hot Hot Heat would make an appearance on second season of American-Canadianchildren's television series,Yo Gabba Gabba!, with the song, "Time to Go Outdoors", featured on season's third episode, "Talent".[10] At some point during this period, founding bassist, Hawthorne quietly left the band. Parker Bossley from Canadian dance-punk band,Fake Shark - Real Zombie! would become the group's new bassist. Ironically, another member of Fake Shark - Real Zombie!, Canadian guitarist, Louis Hearn would later on become the group's next bassist following Bossley's departure from the group in 2010.
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The band's fourth studio album,Future Breeds was released June 8, 2010, throughDine Alone Records. To build anticipation for the release the band performed residencies at two small clubs in the United States, Public Assembly inNew York City, and Bootleg Theater inLos Angeles throughout May and June 2010 respectively.[11]
Hot Hot Heat's public activity was scant in the 2010s; however, they debuted a new song, "Mayor of the City", in May 2013.[12] In response to a fan's question on Twitter, Hot Hot Heat mentioned a release for an album in the fall of 2015. On September 10, 2015, Hot Hot Heat announced new material via their Instagram page for a spring 2016 release. On Friday June 24, 2016, Hot Hot Heat released a 10-track self-titled album and announced it would be their final album.
After the band split, Bays reunited with former bassist, Bossley to form,electro pop project,Fur Trade.
On November 18, 2023, the band announced they had reunited via social media, with Bays, Hawley, DeCaro and Bossley consisting as the line-up. Their return single, "Shock Me" was released Dec 1. 2023.[13] On January 26, 2024, however, the band announced via social media that their reunion had come to an abrupt end just before the new year due to Bays feeling "he could not participate."[14]
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AUS Hit. [16] | GER [17] | SCO [18] | UK [18] | US [19] | US Indie [20] | ||||||||||||
| Make Up the Breakdown |
| 19 | — | 38 | 35 | 146 | 5 | ||||||||||
| Elevator |
| 10 | 92 | 31 | 34 | 34 | — | ||||||||||
| Happiness Ltd. |
| — | — | — | 133 | 86 | — | ||||||||||
| Future Breeds |
| — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||
| Hot Hot Heat |
| — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||
| "—" denotes album that did not chart or was not released | |||||||||||||||||
| Title | Year | Peak positions | Album | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CAN Emg. [21] | CAN Alt [22][23] | CAN Rock [24] | MEX Air. [25] | SCO [26] | UK [27][28] | UK Rock [29] | US Bub. [30] | US DL [31] | US Alt. [32] | ||||
| "Bandages" | 2003 | — | × | × | × | 27 | 25 | — | — | — | 19 | Make Up the Breakdown | |
| "No, Not Now" | — | × | × | × | 46 | 38 | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Talk to Me, Dance with Me" | — | × | × | × | — | 78 | 12 | — | — | 33 | |||
| "Island of the Honest Man" | 2005 | — | × | — | × | — | — | — | — | — | — | Elevator | |
| "Goodnight Goodnight" | — | × | 20 | × | 33 | 36 | — | 2 | 59 | 27 | |||
| "Middle of Nowhere" | — | × | 23 | × | 50 | 47 | — | — | — | 23 | |||
| "Christmas Day in the Sun" | — | × | — | × | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album single | ||
| "Give Up?" | 2007 | — | × | — | × | — | — | — | — | — | — | Happiness Ltd. | |
| "Let Me In" | 24 | × | 19 | × | 54 | 138 | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Harmonicas & Tambourines" | — | × | 44 | × | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "21@12" | 2010 | — | 28 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Future Breeds | |
| "Goddess on the Prairie" | — | 13 | 38 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Mayor of the City" | 2013 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Hot Hot Heat | |
| "Kid Who Stays in the Picture" | 2016 | — | 14 | 25 | 38 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Pulling Levers" | — | 43 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Shock Me" | 2023 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album single | |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart. "×" denotes periods where charts did not exist or were not archived. | |||||||||||||
| International | |
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| National | |
| Artists | |
| Other | |
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