quotes
"They [Hot IQs] have a seranading art rock voice to match their subtle but frenzied guitar hooks...carry a charm that just enraptures."
[URB Magazine]
"Denver trio Hot IQs boast witty lyrics, shake-your-knee hooks, a hot female drummer and songs that make you want to dance through an avalanche."
[SPIN]
"The IQs’ strongest asset, however, might be vocalist Eli Mishkin. His theatrical, baritone swagger carries every song to unexpected melodic heights..."
[CMJ.COM]
"Insanely catchy and incredibly fun"
[GorillavsBear]
"Tight, bright and more hook-laden than a pirate ship, this attitude-heavy indie trio defies logic with songs that sound both instantly familiar and refreshingly weird."
[The Denver Post]
accolades
Voted second best band in Colorado
[2007 Denver Post Underground Music Poll]
Best Indie Pop Band
[2007 Westword Music Showcase]
reviews
Dangling Modifier ep (4 stars out of 5)
The Denver based indie favorite Hot IQs have released the first EP for their second album, Dangling Modifier, and it’s loaded with rock-pop booty shaking fun. Fans of Franz Ferdinand will enjoy this collection of five songs from the up and comers. The trio provides smart lyrics with an infectious groove. The distortion heavy guitar blends perfectly with lead singer Eli Mishkin’s deep vocals. At times he reminds me a little of Iggy Pop with a little more bass.
Playing heavier on the rock than on the pop, Bryan Feuchtinger assist with vocals as well as lays down a strong bass line. He really shines in the second track “Retromuff”. One of the few female drummers out there, Elaine Acosta keeps the songs bouncing along. “Duck & Cover” leads off the EP and it’s the perfect music to be featured on The OC or Veronica Mars. If you can’t dance along to the song because you’re at work or the tight confines of a subway, you’ll find it impossible to not nod your head or tap your toe to the beat. The rest of the EP is a little more laid back but not by much. “Retromuff” is a lambasting of retro-trends to an alt-guitar jam. The disc ends with a cover of the Archers of Loaf song “Web in Front”. The Archers heavily influenced the sound of Hot IQs and it’s a fitting cover.
Their second full length album should be out by this fall but until it arrives pick up Dangling Modifier. The Hot IQs have a sharp sound that will easily propel them into the mainstream.
[Stefan, Pop Syndicate]
Dangling Modifier ep (4 stars out of 5)
The problem with many smart bands is that they spend all their time proving how smart they are instead of actually being smart: Literary allusions, historical references and obtuse references to philosophers aren't exactly the stuff of great pop music, nor is the impress-the-masses brand of experimentalism for experimentalism's sake usually the stuff of anyone's favorite albums.
If it's a matter of self-confidence that leads brainy rockers to lay it on too thickly -- and undermine their entire effort -- then Denver's Hot IQs need to hold a seminar on self-esteem for every highbrow act hoping to cut an album this year. Outside of the obvious grammar-geek connotations of its title, the band's sophomore EP, Dangling Modifier, resists the urge to batter us with the trio's brains. In fact, if you're not sharp enough and aren't paying attention, Dangling Modifier might come off as just another pop-heavy indie-rock outfit: The act's guitars hover somewhere between the noisy buzz of Archers of Loaf (whose "Web in Front" the IQs cover on this effort) and the well cultured art-punk of acts like Franz Ferdinand and Hot Hot Heat, while synthesizers weave in and out of the mess. It's enough to get asses shakin' and feet moving, or bring a smile to pop-loving wallflowers if that's how you listen to you tunes.
Hot IQs offer a lot more than mere ear candy, though. With an understated sense of irony, cutting wit and an ear for pushing its songs into places far beyond simple indie-pop formats. On its surface, "Duck and Cover" is a rowdy power-trio number full of enough fuzzed-up guitars to make any power-pop fan giddy, and "Retromuff" is a knock at retro-minded fashionistas. Pay sharp attention, however, and the former blossoms into a track with staying power that belies its pop roots, while the latter, amid a wash of Rhodes and wide-open guitar arrangements, isn't just a condemnation of thrift-store chic, but the culture-rotting aspects of a pop-culture increasingly built on hindsight. "Let's Inflate" switches between hipster jangle and classic college-radio muscle as the IQs launch a pre-emptive strike on any self-stroking art-school egotism that may spring up around the band, with buzzy pop that's almost as sharp as the stabs its lyrics convey.
If Hot IQs can deliver the promises Dangling Modifier makes on their next full-length, the next haven of smartypants hipsters won't be Glasgow, New York or Berkeley. It'll be Denver, as the brains behind Hot IQs deliver the sort of album that gets stuck halfway between your higher-process thinking and your primal desire to dance like a complete moron, somehow managing to tickle both regions of your brain.
[Matt Schild, Aversion]
Poster by Jonathan Till | click for PDF
photo by sarah cass
rock band
Hot IQs is Elaine Acosta (drums), Eli Mishkin (guitar + lead vocals), and Bryan Feuchtinger (bass + vocals).
Dangling Modifier
Our ep is available is available in our store, or on iTunes.
- + Duck & Cover
- + Retromuff
- + Elephant in White
- + Let's Inflate
- + Web in Front
- + Bonus mp3: Nightstand
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