THE HOT ROCKS
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THE HOT ROCKS

Nashville, Tennessee, United States

Nashville, Tennessee, United States
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This band has not uploaded any videos

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"THE HOT ROCKS"

I can easily see Nashville's The Hot Rocks opening up for a band like OK Go, or, on the other end of the spectrum, opening up for a band like The Strokes. These boys are taking parts of extremely poppy radio rock, and mixing it with the sort've Beatles, and classic rock inspired sound that can keep them dirty, and credible. It's not extremely hard to really place exactly where they belong in terms of the genre scale: these guys are playing rock music. If you took Emanuel and dropped the arrogance and the sass, you'd have The Hot Rocks.

Opening up with one of their more pop influenced songs, A-Ok, the chorus is the one thing that you will take away from the song without even thinking about it. It's catchy string of O's lined together in succession are the things that make singles reach the top of the billboard chart. Right up next is Bright Eyes, a song that sounds almost like something that could come out of one of the newer Offspring records. Especially vocally, it sounds almost like a dead ringer for Dexter Holland. The bassline keeps everything simple, and the high hat just makes it more of a toe-tapper.

A little something in every one of these songs shows that these guys have what it takes to write great songs. But at times, they definitely fall short of being able to keep one full song together as a true hit. Another Night has shades of things that I absolutely love. It's got pieces of The Format, Last Days of April, and Damien Rice. But then there's that whole upbeat rock thing that's been there on the past two tracks, and then comes the desire for something more. Something new. That's where the pop piece comes into play. The song, itself, seems to be nothing special, until the hook comes in. That's what really clinches it. But if you happen to wriggle free of what's trying to drag you in, what's left of the song seems to fall flat. This is why, I feel, they fail with the song, Higher. There is no hook. It's just what seems like one long guitar loop.

Before going into The Last Day of Summer, an instrumental, they launch into Shine, a gem that sounds like something from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers or Bowie. But on the other side of this instrumental is a song that is just way too much for me to handle. Followed by a great song resembling Third Eye Blind. These guys are all over the map.

The Hot Rocks pride themself on going out and making every song different. And this is something that I really can give to them. Each song, while sharing similar parts, are used to different ends. Every song on this 13 track effort has a different vibe and a different feel to it. This makes it really hard to completely block out the album to the background, even if you were trying. There's just something completely fresh about every song. - wrank music


"THE HOT ROCKS"

They may announce at the beginning of their rock epic that one needs to: "put away your girly magazines" but this exciting rock combo could be forgiven for their concern for social purity. 'The Hot Rocks' move effortlessly from the manic, frenetic 'A-OK' to the bittersweet ballad of 'The One' in the blink of an eye, the listener is treated to one of the most eclectic albums ever to emerge from the rock stables. Eric Rocks is awesome on lead guitar and vocals. The enigmatic 'The Chad' is stunning in his performance on vocals and secondary guitars. Chris on bass and 'Animal Hees' on drums complete the rock ensemble. 'Last Day Of Summer' is a track sodden by the taste of summer, the instruments allowed to play at their own pace for long extended minutes of pure bliss.

'Take A Dip' is a darkly erotic song and tributes must be paid to those who put this recording together on a production level because the subtle shift in sound within and between songs allows the listener to embark on a journey through the music. 'Faster' can only be a song about narcotic stimulation and it would have been a better strategy to employ innuendo in place of in-you-face profiteering to express the anti-establishment message of the tune.

The Hot Rocks' are ambassadors of rock to a new generation. For the moment, I'm keeping my hitherto unheard of collection of girly magazines. Whether 'The Hot Rocks' are rebelling against the lad's magazine culture or have something against a Cosmopolitan profile of Jude Law's spurned girlfriend is unclear. What you can be sure of is that you’re about to hear a lot more from 'The Hot Rocks'. - room 13


"THE HOT ROCKS"

Just when I’m seriously hooked on The Hopefuls, along comes The Hot Rocks to entertain my instincts, and my instinct is to say “bloody hell, who are they?” Not sure how much this quartet from Nashville, TN. has been bandied about “scenester blogs” as I usually browse around just those few, but they truly rock, even when spotting a touch of The Magic Numbers. I quite like The Magic Numbers, but they come across as rather “safe”. The Hot Rocks, well, are rock hot. I especially enjoyed “Shine” on first listen, and “AOK” is just so outrageously fun to get your mind blown away to. How can, and really why should, one disagree with them when they yell out “put away your girlie magazines” right from the start on the latter?

They’re surely my hottest listen this December.

Check these tracks out, highly highly recommended:
Shine
AOK - time consumer


"taxi review ID #210"

My fav listen tonight = you guys just so rock. Good feeling rock to balance out the hard core "system of a down" side of my soul :) Your productions are stellar, modern but charming and not overdone. The musical performances are beauteous and the lead vocalist is great. Chops with charm and just enough quirky gritty texture. Oh yeah and the writing - simple but hooky. All I have to say is keep exploring musically and lyrically. Dig even deeper but don't ever lose your simplicity. that's a talent not everyone has. I'm a huge fan. good luck! - taxi A&R


"taxi review ID #223"

Nice work and overall approach on all three of the tracks you guy's have provided. It is clearly obvious there is a lot of musical skill and talent in this band and it is on prominent display on all three compositions. The production value, dynamic structural nature of the songs and the energy that is behind them does a good job of demonstrating the bands knowledge and application of their importance, the diversity and originality of the compositions only goes to further this strength. - taxi A&R


"taxi review ID #211"

I've had the opportunity to listen to you guys a few times now and I'm totally a fan. Top notch work. These tracks are well suited for this listing so it will be my pleasure to forward you on. Good Luck! - taxi A&R


"taxi review ID #225"

Great stuff here. I think your sound is totally dialed in. I'm really looking forward to hearing more of your music and seeing how far you can take it because it's really good. - taxi A&R


"highlights"

highlights:
-featured on MTV U as part of their top 25 college bands of 2006!

-THE HOT ROCKS were featured as a "soon-to-be-famous band" by Garnier Fructis(Loreal) last year, and were featured on garnierfructis.com

-Winners of "The best band in the Boro" readers poll by flash magazine

-Jason was featured in DRUM! magazine as hot new blood in September 2005

-cited as a band to watch in 2005 by the nashville scene

-reached the #1 position on indie music web giant IUMA's top 40 countdown - various


Discography

THE HOT ROCKS II, summer 2006
THE HOT ROCKS, may 2005

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Bio

THE HOT ROCKS are a rock band from Tennessee. We're not trying to be louder, faster, or heavier than whatever else is going on in music right now. We're a rock band, that's it. We play rock music the way we think it should be played- from the heart" says Eric, who grew up moving around East Africa. His travels led him to Nashville when he was nineteen where he met Chad, who also a traveler who lived most his life in the southern United States. The two met while working at a local recording studio in Nashville. Upon meeting Topher and Jason through mutual friends their energy and passion to write great songs collided to from what is now known as THE HOT ROCKS. Their live show is raw, enthralling and emotionally charged. Never holding anything back, and captivating every crowd they perform in front of.
They write songs about who they are, what they do, where they're from, and where they're going. With a mission statement like: "energy, sincerity, clarity of vision, creativity"- it is easy to see where their priorities lay. The most creative and innovative new act in music, THE HOT ROCKS are sure to be the next big thing!

highlights:
-featured on MTV U & Boost Mobile, as part of their top 25 college bands of 2006!

-THE HOT ROCKS were featured as a "soon-to-be-famous band" by GARNIER FRUCTIS(Loreal) & YAHOO MUSIC

-Winners of "The best band in the Boro" readers poll by flash magazine

-Jason was spotlighted in DRUM! magazine as hot new blood of 2006

-Cited as a "Band to Watch" by the Nashville Scene

-reached the #1 position on indie music web giant IUMA's top 40 charts

-lyrics to their song 'another night' featured in american songwriter magazine.

-both "another night" and "shine" have made it into broadjams world wide top 10 pop/rock songs.