Hot Hot Heat — Happiness Ltd.

I really want to like this record, but the only thing it's doing right now is making me want to pull my hair out, strand by excruciating strand. I wish I could get past Steve Bays' overwrought and melodramatic intonation, and I want to ignore the over-inflated and grandiose sound they seem so fond of this time out. But the bulbous "Let Me In," whose unnecessary strings are little more than a crude attempt at milking my most basic and self-piteous emotions, makes it so hard to like this record. What's so frustrating is that it's not all rehashed scraps from other overly emotive bands. If it was, then this would be an easy slam. But the Victoria-based quartet deliver a powerful one-two punch with "Harmonicas And Tambourines" and "Outta Heart" mid-album, showing flashes of what made them so intriguing five years ago when they first shot to notoriety. I know they're capable of making music that doesn't leave you reeling in the throes of anthemic anathema, but Hot Hot Heat have fired well off the mark with Happiness Ltd.