After tearing up the music scene and wrapping up their tour and release of their 2005 album, Elevator, alternative rock band Hot Hot Heat went through a musical revolution.
Happiness Ltd., the first album with new guitarist Luke Paquin and the third album with Sire Records, is a product of the Canadian band's redefined identity. The album boasts both upbeat tunes and personal lyrics, but never both in one song. What each song lacks in affective lyrics, it makes up for in vocal or instrumental accents. And what another song lacks in instrumental originality, it makes up for with unique witty lyrics.
Happiness Ltd. is a fusion of styles and tastes, blending the elements of different artists' templates and splitting the album between familiarity and an uncomfortable new palate.
For the classic Hot Hot Heat fan, the album starts on a familar note. The jaunty beats heard in the first track titled "5 Times out of 100" are coupled with the band's pessimistic thoughts on love, the theme of the album. As the song that stays truest to the band's traditional sound, fans will love that it is the 2007 twin of the 2002 single "Bandages."
After the first track, Happiness Ltd. falls into a pattern of borrowing sounds from other artists. Unfortunately, a number of tracks resonate a feeling of uncomfortable familiarity, but not of their own sound. Music connoisseurs will be left so, so cold if they can pick up a lukewarm imitation of Something Corporate in "So So Cold" or a sound familiar to indie-rock group Franz Ferdinand in "Outta Heart." Fans will wonder whether the problem is that the band has lost its creative spark or whether it's that the band has discovered that duplicating used sounds is the pathway to success.
Perhaps the borrowed elements aren't a complete waste. "Outta Heart" shows off the softer side of Hot Hot Heat's rock image. This slow, dance-worthy tune will capture the attention of heartbroken fans.
"Give Up?," the first single from the album, released in March 2007, stays true to the band's style with an ear-catching introduction highlighted by uplifting percussion. To balance the optimism of the introduction, lead singer and front man Steve Bays must bring listeners down again. He sings "Frustration, frustration / I hate this vacation / So give up? Give up? / I got to get away from here / It's killing me just thinking about it."
If fans are discouraged by their lyrics, the band redeems itself with uplifting harmonies and lively mastery of instrumentals. Bays' voice never tires and consistently delivers expression to every syllable throughout the 11-track album.
The copycat trait of the album does little to further define Hot Hot Heat's musical niche. No one track sounds like another -- but instead of creating a sensation of individuality in the album, a multitude of comparisons are drawn to other artists.
By the end of Happiness Ltd., some fans may feel like they've "Waited for Nothing" (track 11). For true Hot Hot Heat fans, the release of the album is almost certain to be a disappointment. On the other hand, Happiness Ltd. could be the factor that encourages newcomers to jump on board and feel the hot, hot heat.
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