The Brooklyn-based indie pop band, Record Heat (formerly Spirit Animal), are back with a new EP called 1. For those unfamiliar with the group, they are right in the same vein as bands like AWOLNATION, Portugal. The Man, and Glass Animals. This collection of three new songs expands upon the thematic elements introduced on their full-length debut (2018’s Born Yesterday) and offers a playful take on their genre-bending songs that are otherwise hard to define. The band is poised and ready for taking the next steps in their evolution towards making a mark on the music scene.
The 1 EP opens with its best track, “Nathan,” that is clearly influenced by other synth-pop acts like AWOLNATION and Twenty One Pilots, and quickly jumps between near-rapped vocals to great pop hooks on the chorus. What the band does well on this song is to keep the interest high on their re-imagined take on synth-pop and offer up unique elements into the track to prepare the listener for the material found here.
”Just Hits” follows with a similar pattern to the opening single, with some programmed beats, samples, and layered vocals. Lead vocalist Steve Cooper sounds as captivating as he’s ever been as he changes up his vocal cadence at the drop of a hat to keep things feeling unique. The song is similar to the frenetic pace of Foster the People with a blend of the sampled music elements of Faith No More.
The EP closer “Network” is a worthy way to end the record with a similar pacing as the material before and rapped vocals from Cooper. It features a killer bass line by Paul Michel, some interesting guitar riffs from Cal Stamp, and Cooper fills the space between with some sharp-tongued vocals about not giving a fuck about what others think. The track is somewhere between a Hollywood Undead-styled song with a blend of Beastie Boys rock elements to make for a fun way to close out the brief re-introduction to the band.