The Hots

http://www.twowaymonologues.com/live-reviews/thursday-jan-10th-the-hots-and-william-the-conqueror/

(...) Over at the Horseshoe they had a three-band bill, but the one we were most interested in was The Hots ( http://www.myspace.com/thehotsmusic). I only heard them the day of the show, but immediately I was reminded of a more North American-sounding, less glam-oriented version of The Sounds (who you should check out if you haven’t heard, because they are pretty awesome).

The Hots are a local five piece who have your normal drum/bass/guitar/keys set up but also have a significant amount of trumpet worked into their songs. Not that you could really tell as the Horseshoe seemed to shit the bed on the sound for this band on Thursday night. The keyboard and trumpet were not nearly loud enough, lead singer M.J’s amp was cutting in and out way more than it ought to of been, and Lorne Spence’s vocals were almost inaudible. Combine that with being stuck in the opening slot to a relatively cold audience and the odds were not in the Hots favour on Thursday night.

But the band played on, and ended up putting on a really catchy and fun show yet. One that won this reviewer over and has them high on my list of bands to book for upcoming shows. The Fiery Furnaces the Hots are not, this is a tried and true indie-pop rock formula slightly altered to suit their bands skill set and that’s just fine by me. I’m cool with safe if a band does it at this high a level.

All of this is probably best displayed on the awesomely titled “Apollo Creed” which is dangerously catchy and ought to have had the entire room dancing at the Horseshoe and probably does on a better more populated night. M.J’s vocals are showcased very well here and I admire her and the band’s confidence to persevere through a pretty shitty deal put on them by the atmosphere in the room that night. (...) - Two Way Monologues