NOW HOLD ON JUST A SECOND: Oh come now. I have never apologised for liking this ridiculous, ridiculous band. Not even to the faces of anti-hipster snobs I desperately wanted to impress. Not quite a decade ago, I believe the only people on the planet who had faith this band did not actually suck were me, the boy who got me into Franz, and the band members’ girlfriends (well, at least one of them), but the boys of Hot Hot Heat have built themselves a studio and one hell of an album, and now that they finally don’t give a fuck about their lame-o pre-teen listener base of yore, I think it’s high time for the love to be spread.

THE REVIEW: It’s dance-punk. It’s Brit punk. It’s got a little hardcore under its skin. It’s jaunt-rock. It’s electro-rock. It’s just up on the brink of out of control. It’s, to put it simply, “one of THOSE bands”. These guys made names for themselves opening shows for the Killers back when the Killers were a big deal, and have been “that band that opened for the Killers” ever since. What’s truly surprising is that these cats are from... wait for it... CANADA. This is their fourth, and best, record. You know their name from awful twee pop songs that broke them to mainstream radio and doomed them to be forever crowded in and associated with other, less imaginative bands. It’s little help that their first two records have sellout written all over them, but while you idiots were fantasising about doing the Pulp Fiction twist with your Degrassi crushes to the tune of “Middle Of Nowhere”, the cool kids were making out to the Knock Knock Knock EP in their public library parking lots (certainly not speaking from experience here).

Play this if you know what’s good for you, kiddos. Look who’s the fucking hipster now.

RIYL: Arctic Monkeys, The Fratellis, The Ordinary Boys, Ima Robot, Kaiser Chiefs, Bloc Party, The Faint, The Dandy Warhols

try: 4, 1, 10, 8
FCC: 3, 5?, 12

*1. queasy carnival jolter with very sick vocals. careening drunk electric guitar. fucking marilyn manson wishes he wrote this. drawly “let’s live a lie together”.
2. starts with siren noise. zooming electric lead, broken time signature strumming. feel-good glam.
3. FCC “fucking” aggressive, downtempo, clashy. echoey desperate/angry spoken vocals over steadily more out-of-control circus bounce.
*4. !!! heavy explosive syncopated fanfare percussion. supa-rapid vocal stylings a la ima robot and speedy punk guitar that could do battle with good old nitro-era AFI. this is the track, kids.
5. FCC? nice strokes-y rudder guitar. sunshiney pop vocals to play with the windows down. hilarious and endearing “oh!”s in the bridge. the outro vocal line is also funny, but maybe only to me. liner claims they say “apeshit”. i didn’t hear it.
6. ominous draggy smart-up western swagger. sharp and slinky. “i wanna see results!” spoon would be proud.
7. FCC “ass” siren noise. broody, dark feel. difficult time signature. doubled vocals and low guitar. major dueling electroclashy lead guitars.
*8. clashy, clangy, loud, messy and fun. trademark descending scale vocal runs. interspersed laser and synth effects that manage to fit right in with the noisiness.
9. slow clap and strum intro. morphs into a complex, layered groover with poppy vocals. cowbell, trashcan percussion, bendy bass, guitars that sound like wood vibes. really cool chorus vocals. ends with random and well-synched samples. i KNEW these guys were capable of this.
*10. deliberate, heavy syncopated saloon piano. gets big and loud and bratty. fucking awesome spat and shrieked vocals. near-industrial at the end.
11. electroclashy futuristic downer. fast and fraught with... well, whatever it is, it’s all over it. repetitive smacked vocals: “nobody warns you, take it from me”. of all the tracks, comes closest to aping the faint.
12. FCC “bullshit” fun and happy. alternate solo vocals and guitar and drum fills. sing-songy sway-bop chorus. reachy vocals.