Online only: Not so Hot Hot Heat

Canadian indie rockers Hot Hot Heat let out some angst and even display some synth-heavy, new-wave ballads on their latest album Happiness Ltd.\nThe songs that stick out, though, are their upbeat, pop songs. Full of driving beats and catchy hooks, the tunes stick in your head easily. Singer-keyboardist Steve Bays uses the interplay of his odd vocal intonations and his keyboard harmonies to create those perfect hooks. A bit gimmicky at times, Bays' voice can irk and linger -- still sort of catchy, but in the same way colds are.\nHot Hot Heat has a wide-ranging sound in this album. The instrumentation is far-reaching (orchestra and choir at times), and the band is on the right path. Of course, they couldn't be new-new-wave pioneers without the consistent use of keyboards and minimal use of guitar. \nThe ballads "Happiness Ltd." and "Waiting for Nothing" drone on and seem to stop trying to keep the listener's interest. \nThe heavier "5 Times out of 100" is an example where Bays' cadence, along with the keyboard harmonizing in perfect beat with the vocals in the hook, creates a unique and catchy song. "Conversation" has a fuzzy guitar that stands out more than most songs and has an upbeat, even funky, appeal to it. There's also a hot keyboard solo that sounds like a distorted organ. \nThe galloping, driving percussion of "Give Up?" brings the listener through the song while layers build to Bays belting out the loud and honest chorus with more straightforward singing than in most of the songs. His crooning becomes more of a weep in songs like "So So Cold," which starts to sound whiny.\nHot Hot Heat's first album in more than two years reaffirms that the band is not dormant and still trying new things. Though the album has quite a few hot hot tracks, it's cooled down by the tepid ballads and songs in which the vocals become theatrical and gimmicky