2 Hot 2 Sweat – rarararararaRA!

no amount of knob twiddling can disguise the fact that there’s something missing from their sound

no amount of knob twiddling can disguise the fact that there’s something missing from their sound

http://www.myspace.com/2hot2sweat

 

There’s a lot to like here, but not enough to really grab your attention for long. The male/female dynamic works well and the mixture of Nirvana loving guitars and head-melting electronics gives them a slightly left of mainstream appeal but no amount of knob twiddling can disguise the fact that there’s something missing from their sound. They have their moments though. Opener Microscamp isn’t bad at all. It’s two and a half minutes of White Stripes like rock and roll and it does exactly what it should, which is get your head bouncing. Half-Assed Rom-Com is a great title and thankfully it’s sleazy enough to get kids in stripy t-shirts to eat the faces off each other in sticky floored nightclubs but the lack of any bass or bottom end really limits how effective it can be. It sounds like you’ve blown a speaker or something. Swap It! unfortunately hides an exciting guitar part in a mess of electronic percussion but Your Space or Mine simplifies things somewhat and is all the better for it. It’s a straight up, no nonsense garage rock song that will get your blood pumping a bit faster if nothing else. I’m not quite sure about Karmarama but it’s so childish you’ll probably appreciate its petty bitchiness. After all, there’s got to be some part of you that smiles when you hear the line “I think it must be karma that your arse is getting larger.” Cariad is much better though and closes the EP out nicely. It’s a skuzzy little track, with some fabulously off key vocals. You probably won’t be able to put your finger on why it works – I certainly can’t – but you’ll probably find yourself nodding your head and smiling along with it anyway.

At the end of the day, this little EP kicks up a fair bit of racket and is rather pleasing but if they found themselves a couple of friends, they could be something wonderful. Two’s company, three’s a band after all.