Hot Damn

This Weather Makes It Feel Like Home EP

Written by: PP on 16/04/2012 06:08:44

I was introduced to UK's Hot Damn through a split they did with Sweden's Tag Your Targets last year, where their part almost exploded out of the record player in the best melodic hardcore / pop hardcore manner. Much growing up has been done since then apparently, because their latest EP "This Weather Makes It Feel Like Home" is a mature and intricate record, one that in many places sounds so different from their pop punk / pop hardcore origins that you'll have to double-check there isn't another band with the same name.

While hints of the style are still present in bouncy and bright guitar melodies found on for example "Gradient", these are only rough undertones and nuances left over as the band have progressed onto bigger (and in this case better) things. They're now equipped with a distinctly darker and more introspective sound, one that's reminiscent of Title Fight, Polar Bear Club (their first record), and why not even Balance & Composure in places (though particularly on "Nose Bleed"). At the same time, the guitars start taking sharp, angular turns, which draws my attention all the way back to the Boys Night Out classic screamo pop punk on "Make Yourself Sick" and their more mature concept album "Trainwreck". The screamed backing vocals juxtaposed on top of the rough clean vocals do wonders, which BNO knew nine years ago, and I'm still wondering why there aren't more bands utilizing the dynamic in the more punk-influenced genres.

This is something Hot Damn are very good at on this EP. It creates memorable build ups to great choruses that haven't been sugar-coated almost at all, instead drawing their strength from a sense of rawness and a rough, uncompromising vibe. "Finding In E Major" and "Nose Bleed" are both songs perfectly capable of measuring up to the very best in the genre, so it's a small wonder that Hot Damn haven't been picked up yet by a record label. They might just be one of the most promising unsigned bands in the UK at the moment, if this EP is anything to go by.

8

Download: Finding In E Major, Nose Bleed
For the fans of: old Boys Night Out, Title Fight, Balance & Composure
Listen: Bandcamp

Release date 01.03.2012
Self-Released

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