Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Hot Hot Heat - Elevator (CD, 2005)

These are the things I discover when I comb through my music collection one piece at a time. I completely forgot I owned this CD, to the point that I almost asked my girlfriend if it was hers. Then I remembered: I liked Hot Hot Heat for like, a week in 2005. That must have been when I purchased this.

My girlfriend at the time had a copy of Make Up the Breakdown, the group's Sub Pop debut, and while she and I didn't always see eye to eye on music, I recall liking that disc quite a bit. I made a note to look out for their next one, and when I heard "Middle of Nowhere" from it, I loved it. That must have encouraged me to take the plunge. This is what I'm assuming; I literally have no recollection of actually buying this.

I've been listening to it for the past few days, and I quickly remembered what I liked about this CD, and what I didn't/don't. "Middle of Nowhere" is still a great track, and so is "Running Out of Time." But I have a hard time getting on board with songs like "Goodnight, Goodnight" and "Pickin' It Up"–they're just trying too hard, looking for Elvis Costello and not finding him. And at times the pop is slathered on so thick that the tracks lose any identity.

Still, overall, it ain't bad. I'll probably just put it back on the shelf and forget about it again.

"Middle of Nowhere"

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