Our cold, cold hearts have been warming to the Hot Hot Heat ever since MTV2 started running their " Bandages " video in blast-furnace rotation. The single, sporting one of the spikiest roller-rink organ hooks since the Cars, has been a mixed blessing for the Vancouver new-wave sensations. Everyone gushes over singer Steve Bays’s unsettling vocal resemblance to Robert Smith — an anomaly not repeated elsewhere on their splendid Warner Bros. (via Sub Pop) debut, Make Up the Breakdown — while neglecting the rest of the album’s jumpier, hopped-up XTC knockoffs. Tonight (Thursday), the HHH are at Axis (617-423-NEXT) in Boston; they’re also at Higher Ground (802-654-8888) in Winooski, Vermont, on Saturday; the Met Café (401-861-2142) in Providence on Monday; and Pearl Street (413-584-7810) in Northampton on Tuesday.

With a trunkful of homemade Halloween costumes and a songbook of broken, childlike acoustic ditties, the Moldy Peaches seemed on the verge of doing for NYC anti-folk what the Strokes did for downtown rock chic. But the band are now on " hiatus, " as they say, while both principals — Adam Green and Kimya Dawson — churn out multiple solo discs. Green is working on his second; Dawson, meanwhile, has already recorded three, and the first — I’m Sorry That Sometimes I’m Mean (Rough Trade) — suggests she was the one behind the hits, such as they are. With little more than a flinty four-tracked guitar, a cracking-voice whisper, and some far-out tales (not to mention some cute bunny ears), she cuts to the chase on songs like " Everything’s Alright " : " Why do I always pretend/I can spoon a guy and still be his friend? " She’s on tour with outsider folkie Daniel Johnston; the revered songwriter has been de-institutionalized for a couple of years now and while staying on his meds has made some of his finest recordings, including the new Fear Yourself (Gammon), which was produced and arranged by Sparklehorse frontman Mark Linokus. Daniel and Kimya hit Higher Ground tonight; the Middle East (617-864-EAST) in Cambridge on Friday; and the Iron Horse (413-584-0610) in Northampton on Saturday.

Say what you will about Detroit rap minstrels Insane Clown Posse: can you think of any other white-meat lunkheads crude and cheesy enough to take 2 Live Crew back on the road? With Detroit’s ghetto-tech crews resurrecting electro bump-and-grind, the Crew (with or without Luke) deserve their own moment of chaos, and they’ll get it as the opening act on ICP’s " Shangri La " tour, which hits the Webster Theatre (860-525-5553) in Hartford on Friday; the Palladium (800-477-6849) in Worcester on Saturday; the State Theatre (207-780-8265) in Portland on Tuesday; and Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel (401-272-5876) in Providence on Wednesday.

BY CARLY CARIOLI

Issue Date: April 10 - 17, 2003
Back to the Music table of contents.