The Hot Rods
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The Hot Rods

Atlanta, Georgia, United States

Atlanta, Georgia, United States
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"The Hot Rods CD review"

The Hot Rods
GlassMaster Records

By Al Kaufman

The Hot Rods is what they is. Basically, they're a bunch of Atlanta rednecks in black Harley shirts and tattoos who listened to the Ramones a lot. They like their women hot, their beer cold, and their cars fast.

Unlike 2007's Super Sport, which gave equal time to women, cars, and alcohol (the CD was partially funded by Pabst Blue Ribbon), The Hot Rods focuses mostly on the girls. Three of the songs from Super Sport appear on this one, "Sucker," "Sorority Girl" and "Slant Six."

"Sucker" opens the disc. In front of their driving, psychobilly beat, the mohawked Mug shouts out, "Come on baby grab that pole / Shake that ass and rock and roll," and the tone has been set. This is, after all, a band that thinks a "Sorority Girl" is "the greatest thing in this world."

This is fun, loud, rock and roll, all while using the minimal amount of chord progression. They pay homage to the Playboy Magazine founder and father of the pool party on "I Wanna Be Hugh," and it's refreshing to hear a song that treats New Orleans as the mysterious party town it had worked so hard to achieve, instead of a town ravished by a hurricane, as they do with "Voodoo Queen."

So go ahead and put a case of Schlitz in the fridge, pop in a roller derby DVD, put the Hot Rods in your CD player, and call the guys over. You'll be doing Jackass antics in no time. - Atlanta Music Guide


"The Hot Rods"

High-octane Atlanta rockers the Hot Rods unleash 13 tracks of high-strung, low-down, in-your-face psychobilly and Southern punk with the intensity of an overheating NASCAR engine on this supercharged debut.

There’s nothing glamorous about this crew—check out the grizzled, road-hardened faces on the back cover—but you wouldn’t want it any other way. The song titles set the tone: “Chains of Hell,” “Slant Sex,” “I Wanna Be Hugh” (that’s Hefner, natch), “Hey Baby” and “Sorority Girl” make Ramones tunes sound scholarly by comparison. With three chords, a scorching guitar solo and singer Mug’s seedy but never (well, seldom) overbearing delivery, these guys obviously don’t take themselves too seriously. Once the album races to its conclusion in just over 35 minutes—minus ballads, thank you—there’s little doubt it’s just a blueprint for a live show that promises a night of sweat, beer and spit.

Occasional Georgia Satellite Rick Richards adds some greasy licks to “I’m a Rebel,” helping cement the local connection. Of course, hundreds of bands have plowed this territory first, and arguably done it better. Still, when the horns enter on the somewhat Alice Cooper-ish “Voodoo Queen,” adding punch to an already grimy, low-slung rumble, it’s tough to complain that you’ve heard it before.

Burlesque openers Pretty Things Peepshow help make this week's show at Smith's Olde Bar a logical combination of all things sexy, grubby and cool. Down a few PBRs and let fly. 3 STARS—Hal Horowitz

- The Sunday Paper- Atlanta


"THe Hot Rods bring raucous rock show to 550 Blues"

For Mug, Vegas Dave, Clutch, Turbo and Ready Freddie, the stage is their perfect spot — especially when the stage is the entire room.
That will doubtless be the case when these five musicians — collectively known as the Hot Rods — appear at 550 Blues, where the brick-walled, Riverside Drive nightclub will receive their quirky, dynamic treatment.
Indomitable, uncontainable and outright subversive, the Hot Rods refuse to be checked at the load-in door. For them, the entire club is their performance space.
“We like to make the stage as big as the club,” said Mug, the band’s vocalist.
He best illustrates the band’s stage persona. It is full of nervy, high-intensity acrobatics. Mug may sing from the rafters, if there are any. He may leap from the stage into the audience, often remarkably landing on a table top. He might lead his guitarists to flights of rhythm on top of stage-bound speakers. Or he may hand the microphone to an audience member, inviting him or her to sing along or make a song request.
To the unwashed, they may appear demonic. But, for Mug, who refused to give anything other than his stage name, there is indeed method to the madness.
“We try to create an experience for the audience, both visual and musical,” he said. “We are always getting the crowd involved in the performance. We get them hyped-up. We really draw them in.”
As a veteran of the concert and nightclub circuit, Mug noted a somewhat disturbing development.
“We notice that after 30 minutes of performing, people get kind of bored,” he said. “They may wander off, go to the bar, talk to girls or go to the bathroom.”
He added that people often “listen with their eyes as well as their ears.” So the Hot Rods’ stage acrobatics make an important, visceral connection.
Furthermore, Mug, the most daring of the crew, is a martial arts practitioner, which lends him an incredible sense of balance. For instance, during appearances at the Hummingbird Stage and Tap Room, the Hot Rods performed on the club’s massive bar.
The Hot Rods’ sound is best illustrated by its debut CD “Super Sport,” a paean to the fast-lane life of cars, fun and sex. The Hot Rods’ next album, a self-titled effort, gets its release in March, which will be be followed by East and West Coast tours, Mug said. Wherever they go, the Hot Rods will likely blast any night club with rock ’n’ roll, Southern boogie and head-banging heavy metal licks — and, of course, its distinctive nightclub act.
“From the first note of the first song,” Mug said, “you will know you’re at a Hot Rod show.” - Kenneth Rollins for The Macon Telegraph


Discography

Super Sport- Oct. 2007
The Hot Rods- April 2009

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Bio

The Hot Rods are a collaboration of hard knocks, formed back in 2005 when The Hot Rods decided they could rock harder and louder than the other bands they were seeing perform. Since then they have quickly confirmed their reputation for controlled chaos by consistently performing throughout the southeast; they have also garnered endorsements from Jack Daniels and Pabst Blue Ribbon. Stage antics are abundant, as The Hot Rods naturally coordinate a live rock and roll waltz.

“Check it out, when you come to a Hot Rods show, we personally make sure that you're breathing in the fumes of our energy, but that you are definitely having fun,” explains straight talking lead singer Mug.

The band is making waves throughout the South, becoming known for their blending of rock, psychobilly, and punk. They have performed with Nashville Pussy, Honky, TH’ Legendary Shack Shakers, Buckcherry and many others. The Hot Rods fan following continues to escalate from their constant performing as well as catching the ears of several music heavy weights, including the legendary Jonathan “Jonny” Hibbert. Hibbert is perhaps best known for his discovery and signing of R.E.M., and although The Hot Rods are an opposing sound to R.E.M., his ears perked up at their musical showmanship, and he came out of retirement to produce the new album, The Hot Rods

“It was at one of our shows, where the crowd was rocking especially hard, that I looked out into the crowd, and saw a man standing in the back with a video camera- Jonny!,” chuckles Mug. “I couldn’t believe he even knew our name.”

It is the electric charge in their music that hooked Jonny. That charge can especially be heard in tunes like “ Chains of Hell,” a rock and roll anthem for the rebellious, and “Sucker,” a poke at the regular attendees of strip clubs.

Besides their CD promotion tour, the band is also currently filming a live concert DVD, directed by Twisted Productions, the same company that directed the video “Pink Lipstick” featuring Lemmy Kilmister of Motorhead. They also just signed a major distribution deal with Universal/Fontana.

The Hot Rods are truly Robin Hood and his Merry Men back in their hometown of Atlanta, where the band regularly produces different musical events, that give young Atlanta rock bands the opportunity to gain much needed exposure. Mug also hosts Atlanta’s “Comcast Band on Demand” bringing local music directly into homes throughout the South.

“It’s not just about us,” explains Mug. “It’s about supporting the local scene, and working within it and not just feeding off of it.”

The combination of mischief, controlled chaos, and excitement is what leads fans of The Hot Rods to continuously put themselves in the direct line of rock energy. You just never know when they might jump off the stage and in your face; but then again, that is exactly how they want you to feel.