![\"\"](\"http:\/\/musoscribe.com\/images\/hotnun.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
When the self-titled CD from Hot Nun<\/strong> arrived in my mailbox recently, it seemed oddly familiar to me. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but the package’s graphic design was reminiscent \u2013 not in actual look, but rather in style \u2013 of something else in my collection. When I opened up the gatefold sleeve, I noticed the name Jeff Shelton<\/strong> listed as producer, sole songwriter, and band member (vocals, guitar, bass, synth). Aha, I thought, I remember him from The Well Wishers<\/strong>, the band who created one of powerpop’s better releases<\/a> in recent memory.<\/p>\n Then the I put on the CD, and the similarities continued. Hot Nun is a hard-edged outfit, leaning more on the Redd Kross<\/strong><\/a> \/ Material Issue<\/strong><\/a> \/ Cheap Trick<\/strong> school of rockin’ out than The Well Wishers (essentially Shelton solo) did. Guitars are set on \u201cstun\u201d (or with the distortion turned up nice), power chords abound, and the bass often plays in lockstep with the rhythm guitar as they chug through some heavy riffage. You get the rock tropes \u2013 handclaps, drummer insistently hitting the bell of his ride cymbal on the middle eight \u2013 but it’s all done in a fresh manner, never seeming slavishly retro.<\/p>\n Well, not slavishly<\/em>, but there’s definitely a pleasing whiff of retro here. \u201cSpirit of 76\u201d (not the Redd Kross<\/strong> tune) is an ode to, well, you know. Its paeans to radio, and a time when listening to music was often more of a communal than solitary experience \u2013 are a clear nod in the direction of a past that’s sadly gone. \u201cWho Do You Love\u201d (not<\/em> the Bo Diddley<\/strong><\/a> rock’n’roll chestnut) chugs along nicely, and some clever shifting of dynamics makes the song catchy and memorable.<\/p>\n \u201cQueen Bitch\u201d (not<\/em> a similarly-named cover but the actual David Bowie<\/strong> song) trades Bowie’s acoustic approach for a harder-rocking arrangement that’s probably closer to how the Spiders From Mars<\/strong> played it live, right down to Shelton’s faux-British vocalizing. Screeching tires signal the careening \u201cWho Do You Think You re?\u201d the album’s most manic number. It’s as if the trio decided, \u201clet’s combine all the elements we’ve used on the previous seven tunes, and then play twice as hard and fast.\u201d It’s a delightful way to end this short album, leaving the listener breathless. And, I should add, ready for more.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/musoscribe.com\/images\/icon_twitter_small.jpg\"){kind=icon}
Twitter<\/a> and get notified