Hot Hooves have just released their third album entitled "Nutritious Cascades" on Big Red Sky Records and it's another superb collection of taut, edgy and melodic Punk Rock. Big Red Sky might be familiar from our recent review of Les Clochards, in fact that band's guitarist Peter Momtchiloff might also be familiar as Hot Hooves are another one of his projects. Only two tracks of "Nutritious Cascades" scale the three minute peak, in fact the album kicks off with the one and half minute blast of "Trudgery, Skullduggery, Thievery & Thuggery" which carries an air of menace reminiscent of early "Black & White" era Stranglers. Then a nagging guitar riff leads into the excellent "Limp Home Mode" with it's cynical "one for the money, two for the money, three for the money..." refrain. Next up is my personal favourite "Move Over" which features another bit of inventive buzzing guitar work and boasts a wonderfully addictive chorus. I compared the band once to the Swedish band Division of Laura Lee as they both specialise in intense bursts of slightly unsettling and claustrophobic music with riffs and melodies jutting out to catch you unaware. I guess the closest comparison I can make would be to the later period Wire and there are even shades of Pixies on "Attitude Adjuster" which has that classic drop-out dynamic where the bass and drums carry the verses, it's a great song. "I Thought You Were Dead" has an American grunge feel and the heavier better produced side of Guided By Voices, then the crunching "Hey Man, Rude Spoiler" brings us back home and even drops in a couple of neat little Clash references. "Boss Fussin'" is another one of my favourites with a great chorus and backing vocals which leads into the album closer "Well Played On The Dumb Front". This track throws me as it starts off with a rich baritone over a piano that actually could have been on Les Clochards' album, but it soon fades out into the heavy guitars and a verse that reminds me of "Lost In The Supermarket", it's a great way to close a really superb album.
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| Hot Hooves at The Buffalo Bar by Paul Slattery |
You can read our previous feature on the band's "Fake Modern Art" album along with some exclusive live photos of the band at the Buffalo Bar by Paul Slattery here. "Nutritious Cascades" can be streamed at the band's Soundcloud site here. Here's a taster, the brilliant track "Boss Fussin'".
