The weather outside is frightful, let The Streets on Fire warm you up
Hot Weekend is a promising, visceral debut from Chicago’s latest rock outfit.
The Streets On Fire
Hot Weekend
Released on Sep 15, 2009
The best singers don’t need a last name. I mean, just look at Cher! While The Streets on Fire have next to nothing in common with that she-crooner, the band’s lead singer Chadwick is setting himself up for greatness by omitting his last name. His pared-down moniker is an indication of the band’s style as well. This isn’t intensely complex music. It’s just music that’s going to rock your world.
There are few things that are more exciting than listening to a new band that has incredible potential. Even though Hot Weekend only clocks in at 25 minutes with eight tracks, these boys know how to get your attention immediately and not let it go. “Local Soul,” the opening track, begins with a simple drum beat that’s soon joined by slightly distorted guitars and finally, by Chadwick’s snarly voice. Right at the point when you feel like you can relax into the song, The Streets on Fire jolt you right into the next track. The band is already well-versed in the art of the short rock song.
I’ve got to take some time to focus on Chadwick’s voice. After a few listens, I think I’ve come up with a decent description—take Jack White’s voice, but scrape the sides of his throat with cheese grater and put him in a punk club. It’s kind of like that, but believe me when I say that you’re better off just listening to it yourself. What’s great about the band though is that they’ve managed to strike a balance between Chadwick’s commanding vocals and the instrumentation from the remaining members. Each part has their moment in the spotlight—“Supersonic Lovelife” highlights everything that’s great about the band’s instrumentation, where “1964” is one of the tracks where Chadwick gets a little bit more attention.
The beginning of “We Play With Tigers” seems to exemplify the album title. If I ever find myself taking the stage during amateur night at one of the many strip clubs I frequent, you better believe I’m going to take a copy of this song and demand they play it. It’s sexy and gritty, without being crossing the line into corny and gratuitous.
While this debut can almost be classified as a resounding success, there is one weak spot that sticks out in my mind: “Flannel Attack,” which comes near the end of the album. It’s not necessarily bad, but it sounds like the balance that they’ve achieved throughout the rest of the album is lost here. It just seems a little sloppy, like they were sitting around and realized that no one would take them seriously if they released an album with only seven tracks, so they threw this one together.
Even with that slight weakness, Hot Weekend is still the best example of visceral, minimalistic rock music that I’ve heard in quite some time. Even if you don’t need a fitting soundtrack for your next amateur night, be sure to get your hands on The Streets of Fire.
High Point
Since I am a little bit in love with Chadwick’s voice, I’m going with “1964.” If anyone’s going to take me on a tour of the decades, I want it to be this guy.
Low Point
“Flannel Attack.” The entire album subscribes to lo-fi production values, but there’s lo-fi production and then there’s lazy song construction. This sounds like the latter.
Posted by Alyssa Vincent on Dec 15, 2009 @ 6:00 am
