Blog Post
The Hot Damn! - 'Dancing On The Milky Way'
Reviewed by Iain McArthur • 26 September 2024
The nights are fair drawing in and both the winter duvet and the heating are back on in my house. No worries though, this energetic new album from technicolour lady-rockers The Hot Damn! is not only a feel-good instant cure for S.A.D but the spontaneous dancing and prancing around the room it inspires will also get the blood pumping on a cold autumn night. Just be careful when you’re dancing on a Milky Way though – they are small and it’s not a long way to fall but you don’t want to have another careless Wispa accident, do you?
The Hot Damn! Can You Hear Me Now?
The Hot Damn! Automatic
The Hot Damn! Live Laugh Love
The Hot Damn! Jukebox on the Radio
This debut album has been a long time coming. The band’s gestation period has lasted for over 3 years now, starting off initially as a slightly strange double-branded entity bearing the inherited names of The Amorettes and Tequila Mockingbyrd, presumably for contractual reasons relating to Gill Montgomery (guitar / vocals) and Josie O’Toole (drums) respectively. Laurie Buchanan (guitar) has also been around from the start and Lzi Hayes (bass) now rounds out the group.Handily, like The Power Rangers and The Teletubbies, the ladies also come colour-co-ordinated so that they are easily recognisable. They have already built up a strong following with their live performances and they really are a colourfulblast on-stage with an abundance of good vibes, balloons, party poppers and unicorns thrown in.
The songs are an absolute riot; playful, joyful and very entertaining. They hit a bouncy pop / punk sweet spot right around where The Donnas used to be but there’s also a touch of Massive Wagons about them too as they bounce around, take the piss and don’t take things overly seriously. They are delightfully sweary too. The first words on Track 1 ‘Fizz Buzz Crash’ are “OK, you sexy motherfuckers” and there are plenty shits, damns and f-bombs throughout to keep the Tourettes folks happy. The overall vibe might be playful but there are also a few spiteful messages in some of the songs too – the musical equivalent of flipping the finger but in this case it’s probably a giant foam finger covered in glitter.
There is much to enjoy here and with the band having built a strong brand image and providing something a bit different musically, they should be able to carve out their own niche in a crowded rock market.
The album will be released this Friday 27th September in a variety of fun formats and they’ve got a few UK dates lined up for November too.
Check out the singles on video: