Well, below is the Post review of the April show. Compare it to the recent review posted by Dr. Doom.
washingtonpost.com
Hot Hot Heat, Warming Up the 9:30 Club
Friday, April 4, 2003; Page C07
Hot Hot Heat singer Steve Bays told the crowd at the 9:30 club Wednesday night that the first time his band played in D.C., "about five or six people were there." The situation was different this time around, as the Canadian quartet nearly filled the V Street club, delivering a 45-minute set that bristled with so much energy that the dynamics of their angular pop songs were often blurred.
HHH's most recent recording, "Make Up the Breakdown," is a sharp-edged amalgam of pop hooks, new-wave keyboard wheeze and punk energy, shot though with what sounds like a thorough knowledge of English pop masters XTC. It was the punky energy that dominated Wednesday, as Bays laid one hand on the organ and the other on the microphone, using his high-pitched wail to shout down songs like "Naked in the City Again" and "Get In or Get Out." The band churned around him like an old washing machine changing cycles, which obscured the precise instrumental to-and-fro that makes "Breakdown" engaging listening. During the set's peak moments, however, the Heat's best songs -- an encore of "This Town" and the great, frisky kick of "Bandages" -- rose above the harried instrumental fray into smart, spiky pop that was well worth the $8 admission.
Furthering the value was an invigorating half-hour from locals Washington Social Club. Singer and guitarist Marty Royle spearheaded the trio's drive through a series of keening songs like "Backed Into the Future," which clawed fiercely at the walls of their classic pop casings via non-cliched rock-and-roll moves and stayed interesting throughout. No easy trick.
-- Patrick Foster
