It’s no secret we like The Hot Damn! at Moshville Times. That neon-clad burst of colourful power pop chaos. Launching in mid-2021 with “Dance Around” after a period of incubation following the folding of Tequila Mockingbyrd and The Amorettes, their appearance on the UK rock scene was a breath of fresh air and, even now, still is. And their long-awaited debut album, Dancing on the Milky Way, is a continuation of that.
These are four ladies who need no introduction, certainly, if you’re a follower of the unsigned scene, you’ve likely seen them at the festivals you’d expect such as Maid of Stone, Call of the Wild, Steelhouse, Firevolt etc. Or you’ve seen them open for the likes of Hayseed Dixie, Black Spiders or Fozzy in the last year or so. And given their heritage, their credentials hardly need to be scrutinised. Powered by Gill Montgomery (vocals/guitar), Josie O’Toole (drums), Laurie Buchanan (guitar) and Lzi Hayes (bass), they’re a formidable foursome, all about making rock music with a bright pop sheen which will put a smile on your face.
“Ok, you sexy motherfuckers! Are you ready for this?” Montgomery beckons as the first words out of her mouth on “Fizz Buzz Crash” – the album’s opening track. “’Course you are…” It’s an invite for the dozen tracks you’ll find and immediately sets the stage for what to expect on the following eleven songs. Featuring their previous singles “Dance Around”, “I Didn’t Like You Anyway” and “Live Laugh Love”, it’s full to the brim of songs they’ve been playing for a couple of years and they’ve been faithfully recreated on this record (or they’ll be faithfully recreated if you catch them on tour after release, depending on how you look at it). There’s a lot of songs about past relationships but unlike Taylor Swift, they’re actually capable of writing songs about other topics – namely good nights, the morning after good nights (they count as two different things), giving yourself a talking to, and sticking a middle finger up to those who deserve it.
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The band take the flamboyance of Queen and The Darkness, the pop punk smarts of Blink-182 as well as their ability to find humour in every song (seriously, there’s more quips here than in a Spider-Man comic) and the feminine bad-assery of Joan Jett, Debbie Harry and Lzzy Hale and wrap it in enough sequins and sparkles that Justin Hawkins’ catsuits would envy. They may not be the heaviest band around but they’re still firmly in the rock camp, just instead of the album riding in on a galloping horse, its mount of choice is a unicorn with a rainbow mane and tail.
The album may not be tripping over itself with riffs, instead the band come together to make bright, fun melodies which get trapped in your head. Despite that, there’s still a heap of blistering guitar solos throughout, serving the song and at no point do any of them feel out of place. The band know their craft intimately, and clearly know how to compose a song without giving the listener whiplash. O’Toole’s drums hit with enough force to puncture the skins and shatter the cymbals, locking in with Hayes’ sharp and sometimes menacing bass for some fat rhythms and encourage a bit of boogieing. Dual guitars never go amiss as Montgomery and Buchanan trade licks, balancing simplicity and complexity, never relying on either too hard. It’s all balanced excellently in the album’s production, passion and sincerity oozing from the speakers, nothing’s too overbearing nor is anything buried. In fact, it’s one of the best mixed albums you’ll hear all year and serves as a lesson to other bands – don’t scrimp on your production.
Numbers like “Going Down” and “Loud and Clear” are representative of the band knowing how to write a song with more hooks than your local fishing shop. But then again, the preceding singles from 2021 and 2022 also showed that. They’re just a bit more accomplished here and less bubble-gum pop influenced. Here, the band manages to be a bit more hard-nosed and snarky to their target but balancing it with enough light that it’s not nasty. Meanwhile, “Jukebox on the Radio” is as catchy as your favourite jukebox song, littered with cowbell and is one of the bounciest tracks on the album. And it’s also got a bassline which is sheer fucking filth.
However, the band manage to fire a couple of curveballs your way in the shape of “Damn! Damn! Damn! Damn!” and “About Last Night” as they manage to get a little bit gritty and grimy but still manage to maintain a better hygiene rating than your local dodgy takeaway. There’s still a whole load of sass and catchiness to their songs here but they’re able to show they’re not a one-trick pony (or should that be unicorn?). The former boils with frustration at people who decide to be headfucks whilst the latter lurches from mild safety to the risk of launching its guts up in a split-second all backed by a drumbeat reminiscent of a pounding headache which may or may not be caused from the previous night’s shenanigans.
And if you think you know what The Hot Damn! are capable of when listening to this album, they ensure you don’t with its finale. The only true ballad of the album, “Sticky Clubs” acts as a wind-down. Clean guitar tones are laden with melancholia whilst the song itself delves into vulnerability and regret. There isn’t any turning point where they face the situation head-on, instead, it’s a subtle nod that it’s ok to be in your feelings and embrace the low points without lingering there for too long.
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While the phrase “All killer, no filler” may be trite, it’s 100% accurate for Dancing on the Milky Way. The quartet show rock doesn’t need to be po-faced; it can be light and fun while still finding time to be relatable as well as putting a smile on your face. Listening to this album is ridiculously addictive and if sugar was capable of forming a band and making music, this is what it would sound like – just without all the health issues from consuming too much of it.
Header image by Rob Blackham
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Dancing on the Milky Way is released on 27th September 2024
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