On Blast! Record Review

Hey Friends!!!! Check out this awesome review of our EP On Blast!

By: Dennis Cook
Sometimes you only need four cuts to know you've stumbled upon serious fucking talent. The real deal has a way of slapping you around that leaves red handprints and unmistakable bruises all over. Oh, it can be a more genteel experience with singer-songwriter types but Oakland's Hottub are a "ride 'em hard and put 'em away wet" sorta thang. Bubbling over with the energy of early Beastie Boys given flowing, heated feminist whomp, their debut EP, On Blast! (Le Heat), is top tier beat science that's more fun than a Crisco coated group grope.

This is party-starting dynamite packed by three extremely talented female MCs and two crushingly gifted fellas who craft the banging musical settings. Anthemic without being dumb, every cut is a shouter waiting for a room full of sweaty, lubricated people to chime along, though you'll likely find yourself spinning around your living room with undignified abandon if this is playing. Hottub draw energy from quality ancestors – The Selector, B-52s, Schooly D, MC Lyte, Beasties – but given contemporary sharpness and dirty mouthed savoir faire. Co-Co Machete, Loli Pop, Ambr33zy, Jay-Sonic and Funky Finger have Parliament-ary potential, i.e. funk superheroes waiting to happen. I have ZERO doubt that Hottub could handle riding dolphins in fur cowboy outfits or landing a Mothership over undulating hordes. Some folks roll like that. The rest of us have only to raise our hands in the air and shout, "HOT-TUB!" Do yourself a favor and pop over to their MySpace page and bop around to "M.A.N.B.I.T.C.H." "1-2-3-Go!" and "Superfriction" to fall in love with Spanish Fly quickness. Now, the impatient wait for their full-length debut begins. Mark my words, it's gonna be a freakin' corker and a half.

Hottub started a new national tour opening for The Ting Tings last Sunday that runs through April 15 when the pairing hits The Fillmore in San Francisco. See full tour dates here. On top of their significant studio kung-fu, Hottub is murderously great live. Peep JamBase's rave for last year's BFD performance here.