‘Sup, people? So, we are pretty fucking huge now, because we got reviewed in a heavy metal magazine.  Actually, to be totally honest, we didn’t even know there were any heavy metal magazines left, as the last issue we read was the Kerrang with Blackie Lawless on the cover, but hey – we’ll take it.  The review is in the August issue of Decibel Magazine in a section of reviews for crappy demos and shit they don’t consider to be real records. Called “Throw Me A Frickin’ Bone!” – yeah… i don’t get it, either.

Here’s the review:

Wow, NWOBHM from SF! It’s weird to hear time-machine music executed with this degree of authenticity. The riffs are rough and ready; the vocals are rough and sometimes unready. But mostly it’s hot rockin’ times from dudes who appreciate the art of the harmony lead.

so… other than getting the title of the album wrong (the joke doesn’t work without the “First” part…) and then sort of back-hand dissing my awesomely raw and emotional vocal performances, we’ll claim victory. The dude who wrote it was also cool enough to post all the bands on his blog, Invisible Oranges, so check that out.

Coming off our triumphant, yet sad swan song for Nutmeat at Noisepop, it was nice to see that the leftist, liberal, indie-rock leaning media has finally woken up and noticed the power and importance of what we are accomplishing. Read the full review online. Nice job to our buds in Harderships for helping us wave the flag of awesomeness.

Rounding out the night was Dio-inspired metal maniacs Hot Fog, a foursome of unhinged shredders hellbent on playing as fast as possible and saying the most absurd things into the microphone they could think of. “I think we and The Decemberists are the only two bands in the world who write songs about nautical warfare,” they declared after one of their fantastical odes, “To The Helm” to medieval times. Switching between the duelling axe sound of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal and early Metallica-esque thrash riffs, all that was missing were some epic pyrotechnics. This city’s begging for an injection of badass metal to balance out the heady influx of indie noiseniks, and Hot Fog’s penchant for speed and goofball irreverence may be enough to light the match.

Unhinged and Shredding

He fed us beers and recorded what we said

Recently, Dan Sauter, the multi-talented musician/engineer/host/producer and the man behind the Music Life Radio podcast/show, contacted the Fog to see if we would be interested in coming to his studio for an interview.  Negotiations with our management took several weeks, but in the end, he promised that he would have plenty of cold beer and that he would make us sound “smart” and “important”.

Well – there was plenty of cold beer.  He asked us questions, and we answered them… or, well, sometimes we just said things… sometimes we all said things at the same time.  Towards the end, I think there must have been a problem with the recording equipment, because our speech sounds slurred.

At any rate… here’s the link to the interview – enjoy!

Thanks to Dan for being such a wonderful host… he even had like cheese and fruit and stuff.

Our super-rad bro and fellow rocker, Wendy Stonehenge, from the mindbendingly heavy glam monsters, Glitter Wizard, gave us some bromantic blog love on the killer Metal/Psych blog, Illogical Contraption. Here -  read his post. Also go and check out Glitter Wizard, cuz they totally get rad and slay. We’ve also been burning up the local airwaves, and those of you who rock the KUSF may have been hearing our wicked brand of Metal crushing your little car speakers or whatever.  Check out the playlist from DJ Damin.

As you can see, we are keeping company with some pretty heavy hitters… Prince, Bowie, the Bee-Gees. Kids — all I gotta say is that you better get on board quick to be able to say that you saw us “way back when” in a “tiny little club”.. k?

Yeah… that’s right – - famous people are starting to dig us, and we are well on our way to becoming the next “it” band.  Pretty soon, Mischa Barton and whatever fuck-tard she’s dating will be at our shows, and none of you regular people will be able to get in.  Nutmeat’s mantra and our battle-cry “I’m Gonna Kill You in the Face” has already been co-opted. Justin Timberlake will probably make a metal album because of us.  Anyway, below  is Todd’s review, also posted here.  He’s definitely a real metal fan, and he plays an Explorer sometimes, which makes him rad and legit.

When I visited Hot Fog’s website and clicked on their bio,  the first line immediately caught my eye…”Hot Fog is a ‘79 – ‘83 style hard rock/metal band from San Francisco”.  For people who missed out on that era of heavy metal: pay attention to Hot Fog.  They’ve  successfully distilled the evil, fun, energy, and melodic prowess of that very special time in heavy metal.
There were a lot of fantastic heavy metal bands with killer albums during the ’79-83 period.  Most of which fell under the umbrella of NWOBHM, new wave of British heavy metal.  Only a small handful of these bands ever achieved commercial success…To name a few of the best: Angel Witch, Venom, Tygers of Pan Tang, Def Leppard, Riot, Wicthfinder General, Witchfynde, Iron Maiden, Saxon and of course, Judas Priest.
I often say that heavy metal died around 1983.  I seriously can’t think of another band, aside from Hot Fog, who has resurrected this amazing art form for the headbanders and music lovers of today.  The need for agression and fantasy in young riff-hungry males will NEVER die, enter Hot Fog 2010….
I love the rawness of Hot Fog’s new ep Wyvern and Children first, it is exactly what’s needed in our sickening over-processed music world.  Hot Fog has a natural sound.  That’s what made the ’79-’83  metal period so timeless and exciting, there WERE mistakes and occasional sloppiness but it was endearing, you rooted for those bands!  Hot Fog against the world!   Hot Fog also aren’t afraid to use some druggy echo and trippiness in their juggernauts.  That’s what a lot of metal bands have been missing in recent years, mostly concentrating on aggression without the color and fantasy.