"Cops On Bikes," the latest single from Oakland
prog band Facing New York, might seem a shoo-in for a novelty hit, but it
couldn't be a worse candidate. Eric Frederic's delivery is too casual, the
politics are too playful, and the music is too different to make the song an
easy fit for radio. (Rage Against The Machine, African highlife, and Led
Zeppelin all come to mind.) That goes a long way toward explaining why the band
isn't more popular, and why Get Hot is worth discovering. There's something perfectly
out of vogue about "Hardwood Floors," which sounds like Donald Fagen exploring
The Neptunes' sound; "How Gong I'm Gonna Be Lawn," a stormy epic of the King
Crimson variety; and the spoken word of "Me N My Friendz," which could sit
comfortably on a Barr record. Percussion, groove, and old-fashioned honesty are
the glue that binds together Get Hot's many disparate ideas; what reads on paper like
a bit of a jazz/rock/psych car wreck is actually a sturdy work that's artful as
well as entertaining. It's ironic that FNY lost two members and produced Get
Hot
themselves—these are the band's most full-bodied songs yet. Most
importantly, Frederic and his cohorts seem comfortable enough in their own
skins to be as unhip as they want to be, and all the better for it.