Picking up where the
Knock Knock Knock
EP left off,
Make Up the Breakdown
completes
Hot Hot Heat
's transformation from a purveyor of the noisy synth-
punk
displayed on the band's debut into a polished, but still edgy,
pop
group. Where some of their contemporaries delve into '60s
garage
or '70s
post-punk
,
specializes in re-creating and reinvigorating the
new wave
of the late '70s and early '80s -- not the overly hairsprayed and eyelinered variety, but the geeky, abrasive
pioneered by
Elvis Costello
the Cars
Joe Jackson
, and especially
XTC
, whose
Drums and Wires
and
English Settlement
seem to have been particularly influential on
. The album's shiny but unobtrusive production adds to its retro quality -- it sounds like it's been hiding since 1981 and was just unearthed recently. That only adds to the charm of paranoid
songs like
"No, Not Now,"
"Bandages,"
"Oh Goddamnit,"
which, with their tense hooks and witty wordplay, come close to matching the greatness of their influences. Fortunately,
avoids sounding merely derivative because of the vitality and enthusiasm the band brings to its music -- virtually every track on
bristles with nervous energy and catchy melodies that are entirely the group's own. Indeed, that the album packs so many tightly wound
songs into just over half an hour is both a blessing and a curse -- on the first few listens,
tends to whiz by in a blur of yelped,
Andy Partridge-esque
vocals and angular riffs and rhythms. It's not until the final track,
"Cairo,"
that the members of
catch their breath and open up their sound. Based on a pretty, winding piano melody, the song offers a darker, slightly different twist on their style and suggests that they're preparing to make an even bigger leap on their next album than they did on this one. Still, what
lacks in diversity is more than made up for in quality --
is an addictive, densely packed
gem that ranks among 2002's best albums. ~ Heather Phares