HotChaCha turns on the heat with new sound
IF YOU GO
What: HotChaCha with Fillmore Jive and Boy Without God
When: 9 p.m. Friday
Where: The Lemon Grove, 122 W. Federal St., Youngstown
Tickets: $3; call 330-301-0282
- Place:Knox Bldg
-
110 W. Federal St., Youngstown
By John Benson
Over the past few years, Cleveland quartet HotChaCha — Mandy Aramouni (guitar), Jovana Batkovic (vocals), Roseanna Safos (drums) and Heather Gmucs (bass) — has progressed from a Sleater-Kinney/Riot Grrl background to explorations in a dance-oriented indie sound and even anthemic rock.
Now the evolution may be complete with the foursome’s borderline sublime “Fantastic Static,” which features alternative soundscapes that conjure up Cure-esque guitar vibes while still maintaining a fiercely independent feel.
“I don’t think the change was totally conscious; it was more like that’s what organically was happening with us,” said Aramouni, calling from just outside of New York City. “I mean, this EP is probably the closest to the kind of music I actually like and get into. I think we’ve just been a band long enough where we finally know what we want. Before, we were just like experimenting, but now we have a good idea.
“We’re trying to be a little harder but not like metal, just darker and tougher and thicker. I think it just happened. We’d play shows and just feel uncomfortable playing what we were playing before because it’s not exactly who you are, and now I’ve never been so happy and comfortable playing the music we’re playing.”
Aramouni said the group hinted at its new direction on the 2009 debut full-length “The World’s Hardest Working Telescope and The Violent Burst of Stars,” with songs such as “It Ain’t Easy Being Sleazy” and “Hookers Deserve a Lifetime Achievement Award.” Looking forward, HotChaCha is already writing its next album, due out in 2011.
Fans attending the band’s Friday show at the Lemon Grove should pay attention to the set opener and future album track “Kill Kieth.”
“It’s a double-bass song, but the beginning is with keyboards, and it’s more mellow and kind of like explodes into this big sound,” Aramouni said. “It’s like a harder song but still has a lot of poppiness to it, which is really cool. Our next album won’t be fast and in your face; it’ll just be bigger.”
Finally, the elephant in the room regarding HotChaCha is that the outfit is, well, maturing. Not only is the quartet’s music evolving, but so is its approach to its career. Specifically, gone are the ridiculously convoluted CD titles — “The World’s Hardest Working Telescope and The Violent Burst of Stars” and follow-up EP “Rifle, I Knew You When You Were Just a Pistol” — for the simple “Fantastic Static.”
“Yeah, when we started as a band, we didn’t have any expectations,” Aramouni said. “We just wanted to be in a band and have fun. We were just using goofy names because we thought everything was kind of a joke. Now that we’ve been in the band for longer, we just kind of want a concise feel to everything we’re doing and have things be kind of related. So, yeah, we’re kind of like growing up.”