Search - Hotleg :: Red Light Fever

This is Hawkins' baby, and what a beautiful baby it is!

Seth R | MA | 03/07/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The wait, although really not as long as it could have been, for a new album from Justin Hawkins is over. His British Whale synth pop alias was essentially a tease with just two singles released, so the anxiety over more available material has since heightened. Enter Hot Leg, Justin's new band consisting of himself and three friends. They label themselves "man rock," which is amusing but fitting (silly outfits are out, sweatbands and leggings are in). This is Hawkins' baby as he wrote, recorded, and produced everything. And what a beautiful baby it is!



Red Light Fever is arguably deserving of comparison to The Darkness' debut, Permission To Land. The guitar licks, fun, and flamboyancy are all there. The flavor of The Darkness goes wherever Justin Hawkins goes, and further proof exists in what his former band mates have done in Stone Gods - they just aren't the same or as popular without their departed mastermind. Hawkins is carrying Hot Leg on his back now and the band is looking to make their mark in the man rock charts.



Some songs which sound Darkness-esque, "Cocktails" and "Gay In The 80s" as two examples, are actually both co-written by Chas Bayfield, an unknown friend/writer of sorts. Was he around in The Darkness days? "Cocktails" is a very catchy song, but don't allow yourself to be caught singing the chorus aloud... `Cock [cock]/ Cock, cock, cock, cocktails/ Cock [cock]/ Cock, cock, cock, cocktails.' And then you have uncharacteristic songs like "Ashamed" featuring Beverlei Brown harmonizing with Hawkins, "Trojan Guitar," described as a medieval five-minute-plus epic, and "Kissing In The Wind," a relatively mellow album closer.



There are actually several outtake songs which would be fantastic as a part of Red Light Fever, but a few are offered as freebies from the band's website. Check those out, let Hot Leg give you a dose of man rock, and prepare to be swooned with this album."

Justin Hawkins is back with a new album, a new band and a n

Nikiforos V. Skoumas | Athens Greece, Cambridge UK | 03/18/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

""Hot Leg" is the new band of former "The Darkness" front man, Justin Hawkins. With his new allies, Peter Rinaldi (G), Samuel Stokes (B) and Darby Todd (D) Hawkins puts out the first ever album under the musical subgenre "Man Rock": "Red Light Fever" could indeed be considered the first "Man Rock" album released.

But what is that term anyway? According to Justin* it is: "hair metal, glam and Cock rock, all rolled up into one."



Well, in actuality, "Hot Leg" sounds much like a mixture of "Meat Loaf" and "Queen" covered with AC/DC riffs and of course Justin's vocal and lyrical madness. The album is overall eccentric in a very British way. That is not to say however that Hard Rock fans should be worried as this band has nothing in common with the "indie rock" bands that the UK has been relentlessly producing. No, this is indeed Hard Rock, silly, satirical, tragic, but overall uncompromising.



Furthermore, it would be untrue to say that this album does not stand out from the rest of Hair Metal- Hard Rock releases as Hot Leg is a very interesting (possibly mental) case of a band that delivers huge tracks such as "Chickens", "You can't hurt me anymore", "Cocktails" and "Whichever way you wanna give it".



Putting the band's theatrics aside, "Red Light Fever" is as intriguing as any debut album should be; for the audience that enjoys satirical bands or wishes to explore new Hard Rock styles this album is definitely a must. For the traditional Hard Rock- Glam Metal fans, try to approach this album in as much an open minded way as possible and you will definitely be rewarded.





"PowerPlay" UK Magazine, (issue 107) marks this album with 9/10 commenting: "It's a lean, mean man rock machine."





"Classic Rock" UK Magazine, (issue 130) marks this album with 8/10 commenting: "Gloriously extravagant and endearingly stupid, it's the Hot Leg effect..."



* taken from the interview featured on "PowerPlay" (issue 107)."

3.5 to 4 stars

Comedy Album Fanatic | Western New York | 12/09/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"In order to review this CD properly, I have to talk a little about my reactions to the two CDs from Justin Hawkins' former band, the Darkness:



I loved the Darkness' first CD, thought it was a great debut. At the time it was released I thought that their second CD (One way ticket...) was a little bit of a disappointment. The first four songs were near perfect, in the tradition of their first CD, and flowed together perfectly, but then the latter half of the CD got a little schizophrenic with some songs way overproduced and songs all over the map stylistically. In retrospect, considering that the Darkness broke up after that second CD, I think it was sort of good that the second half of their second CD was at times a little bloated/over-produced. In only two CDs the band seemed to mimic the long-time career arc of most bands: they went from a lean mean debut to slightly-over-produced spectacle. The two CDs together sound like they describe a much longer career.



This new CD from Justin's new band, Hot Leg, reminds me of the Darkness' second CD in that the first five songs are near perfect and flow together perfectly. Songs six through eight however are not as good. Despite some unusual titles for songs on the CD's second half, songs six through eight are lacking something. The CD redeems itself most especially with track ten which has a feel/rhythm that changes things up a bit. Song nine might be my favorite on the CD but I think it could have been placed better. On my first couple of listens to the CD, I didn't see track nine as much different from the three so-so songs that preceded it.



Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying the CD's second half is unlistenable, just that the CD's second half is not as consistently good as its first half. I'd still give the CD high marks for the first half being near perfect.



"