Red Hot Lovers

In the vein of such modern masters of hard punk as Zeke and Turbonegro come Calgary’s Red Hot Lovers. Replete with drilling guitars, fast solos, raw vocals and crunchy studio production, these guys are up there right beside Bionic and Maximum RNR as one of Canada’s heaviest rock bands. Intro track "Sodom City" sets the mood for a metal punk descent into hardcore hedonism with "Speedloader" and "Fuck or Fight" continuing the trip. Most of the time they play it fast and heavy, but always keep a nice sing-along quality to their choruses, as on "Vegas Knights.” It’s the mid-pace thunder of songs like "Rob the Dead,” though, that’ll really keep them drunkenly wiping out in front of the stage into freshly broken beer bottles night after night. Extra points have to be awarded for the genius of naming a song "Ass, Ass, or Ass,” a play on the old hitchhiker rule of paying for a lift with some "ass, gas or grass.”