The music industry, like most industries built on commerce, tends tomove in cyclic patterns known to many as "trends." These "trends" aredisturbing only in the fact that they tend to rob the consumer of anyclear original thought. "Here, America! That other album by that otherband on that other label was good, huh? Well now, we, a completelydifferent label, bring you an artist that's pretty similar! What do youthink?" After the huge success of the Strokes and other bands with aretro-but-not-really sound, the race was on to find the next band withthe sound of yestermorrow. Here they are, from Sub Pop, Hot Hot Heat!After a single on Sub Pop and a whole album on Ohev, "Knock KnockKnock" is a five song EP to whet the listener's appetite for theeventual full-length on Sub Pop. And, yes, Hot Hot Heat have a soundthat is easily derivative, recalls other eras of musical, and stilltries to sound original and new. It doesn't. Their sound is supposedlysupposed to combine the best elements of the most popular music fromthe past three decades. And Hot Hot Heat does that pretty well.Unfortunately, it's not all that interesting to listen to. The firsttrack, 'Le Le Low', features a thumping bassline, Power Station-likedrums, and vocals that sound like the bastard child of Iggy Pop andDanny Elfman singing "where's all your passion gone?/where's all yourfashion gone?" Together, it all sounds like a new wave band that wokeup twenty years later to be produced by Bob Rock. And "Knock KnockKnock" never really does anything more than that. In this race to findthe next band that will bring relevance to past decades with music oftoday, Hot Hot Heat and Sub Pop are behind the leader by some distance,and it's unclear whether they'll be able to catch up.
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