posted 09/15/2005 (Thu) @ 10:35 pm
>>> Music Reviews
Heatmiser - Dead Air (1993)
This heat is killing me!
- Still
- Candyland
- Mock-up
- Dirt
- Bottle Rocket
- Blackout
- Stray
- Can’t Be Touched
- Cannibal
- Don’t Look Down
- Sands Hotel
- Lowlife
- Buick
- Dead Air
Take stock of “Dead Air” and realize that, like most good albums, the sonic variance is slim. All fifteen cuts on the earliest album from singer-songwriter Elliott Smith (”Good Will Hunting”) and company’s rock outfit fall into the category of “brash, loud and inventive.”
Heatmiser here strike me as a jaded ballplayer nailing fifteen machine-thrown balls in a row out of the park. Each song is a loud, thundering crack of pop-smeared beauty. The blurry guitarwork is spot on, but Smith and Gust’s fat and gritty fuzztones add a punk garnish to a pop platter. It’s Elliott Smith rocking out, which actually turns out to be a bit like channeling Smith melodies through Richard Hell guitar. Throw in some moments that sound like a harder-edged early REM (”Bottle Rocket”), and we have a damn good band, if you think about it.
Better yet, don’t think, just pick up Heatmiser’s entire catalog. And when you’re done with that and Smith’s back catalog, do yourself yet another favor and check out the music of Rocky Votolato, solo singer-songwriter, and HIS previous rock band, Waxwing.
Tags: anti-grunge, elliott smith, fuzzpop, grunge, hard rock, heatmiser, power pop
