Written by Fense

And here I thought quirky, lo-fi, synth-based garage bands were pretty much limited to Kill Rock Stars releases, but Hot Lava (http://www.myspace.com/hotlavaep) proved me wrong. Their little ditty that is Lavalogy may sound like it could be a KRS release, but it comes to us from the honored label Bar None. But then again, this is a label that goes through such a diverse list of artists to include 10,000 Maniacs, Architecture In Helsinki, and DJ Spooky in their catalog, and that’s before you even hit E!

“Mummy Beach”, the first single off Lavalogy, is so unbelievably catchy, it’ll have you making up your own “mummy dance” in your bedroom at 1AM (note, in italics: I am not stating this out of experience). But there are plenty of other noteworthy tunes within the album’s… err… casket. “Blue Dragon” has lovable vocal hooks, and the synth lines in “Resolutions ’08″ are totally my fav. And I love love love the “JPG In The Sun” line Now we’re together / We’ll be there forever — and it has great vocal hooks in the verse too!

It’s no surprise that, given the synth-heavy garage-pop element, and songs with titles like “Mummy Beach” and “Ghosties” and “Brainex”, that Hot Lava carries a light Belaire reference. It’s spoooooky garage-pop! Ugh… and then there’s the sexy, seductive “love song” directed at Lovefoxxx, who of course is the crazy-sexy frontwoman of CSS.

See, this is what happens when old stodgy people like myself start listening to bands like Hot Lava and albums like Lavology. We start dancing awkwardly in our bedrooms at ungodly hours well past our company-required bedtimes. We start talking like we’re 14 again (of course, using more modern slang like bff and wtf and rolf) and stop using caps and punctuation.

OK, maybe not the last two, but still. wtf is happening to me?

Hot Lava: Mummy Beach [mp3]

Bar None Records [CD, 2008]

1. Brainex
2. Apple+Option+Fire
3. Blue Dragon
4. Over It
5. Mummy Beach
6. Iggy
7. O Retorno Da Lovefoxxx
8. Resolutions ’08
9. JPG In The Sun
10. Ghosties