Hot Hot Heat have lain their sophomore effort before a world that has changed considerably since the success of their debut Make Up The Breakdown. Most notably the band find themselves in a race that now has a lot more comers than was the case 3 years ago. At the time of their debut their wasn't anything like the slew of bands that have thrown their "keyboard-fronted, mid-80s retro" hats into the ring. To name just the more obvious new competitors The Killers, Dogs Die in Hot Cars, The Bravery - it's become a far more crowded race, which has placed the sub-genre in danger of burning out under the weight of it's sudden ubiquity. Can you say "Keymo?"

Hot Hot Heat also faces a different world in that since their debut they've lost a key member of the band over creative differences. With the departure of guitarist Dante DeCaro one would have been safe in assuming that the band would have stepped even further away from the guitar-driven and ensconced itself all the more in it's patented keyboard-based sound. Oddly singer-songwriter-keyboardist-frontman Steve Bays has thrown the ball to new guitarist Luke Paquin, and if anything Elevator is a more guitar-driven affair than their debut.

Quite obviously Elevator is a more groomed and far less punkish record than Breakdown, which also leaves the record wide-open to the type of sophomore backlash that you almost come to expect irregardless the quality of the product. Truth be told, Hot Hot heat has the goods to withstand this built in stumbling block and Elevator, while not quite as unique and inspiring as Breakdown, is a pretty damn fine recording nonetheless. Though the cheeky insouciance has been dialed down a notch - Bays is still a compelling talent and proves that he can make a scrubbed-up record seem just about as fun. And even though the loose, barely-under-contrlo feel of Breakdown has been reigned in, you can still make the analogy that Bays is to Robert Smith, what Barat and Doherty of the Libertines are to Strummer and Jones.

Elevator being a more poppy, radio-friendly affair finds HHH borrowing XTC and Jamisms fairly liberally as well as Mersey Beat breaks reminiscent of bands as obscure as Jellyfish to the Cars. Just as a sidenote, I find it quite pleasing that this veritable plethora of early to mid 80s throwback bands are tipping their hat so readily to Paul Weller. His bands never got the recognition they deserved and I find it gratifying to see him getting his props however vicariously.

Back to the matter at hand, Elevator is a good bit of bouncy fun, chock full of crafty stops and starts and lyrics, that while not quite as profound as those found of Breakdown, bear scrutiny and are more than clever for the sake of clever. The bottom line here remains the same - if you like early Cure and you don't mind the idea of a band that openly cribs their sound, then go buy elevator and ride it all the way up. There's a good bit of fun to be had on just about every floor.