Lesson V: Very Hot by Diet Kong

Time to set the scene. You play a show with your band in the afternoon on St. Patrick's Day. After a long day of setting up, playing, breaking down, and then the two hour drive you find yourself at yet another gig in New York City at Arlene's Grocery. As you enter the club and put your gear behind the stage, you meet the next band going on. A man in a black suit that has been painted white with what looks to be house paint, not to mention that this man has a rope tied around his head, greets you with a smile. His greeting of a friendly "Hello boys" seemed genuine enough. A round of handshakes and he says he must be getting onto the stage now, dumps a bottle of baby powder onto his head, and then steps into the frantic oblivion of an already rolling live show. This is Keith and his band is Diet Kong. That's the story of how was introduced to this band and they rock asses.

Their song, "Very Hot," had us singing the hook the whole way home to Philly that night, scatting the words over and over. On the play by play breakdown, "Very Hot" starts with an intro that could grab the ears of any music fan from NIN to BIG. The first line of vocals to come in are nice falsetto lines that remind me of why I love Dr. Dog so God damn much. And the verse melody is real sweet, with a touch of falsetto here and there cleverly woven into the lines. And then there's the hook.

It comes in strong and relieves the tension of the syncopation and dynamic of the verse. You can almost envision the warehouse of pogo-ing ravers that this hook seems to call out to. It's easily memorable and it totally makes you want to dance. Just when you think you're going to get a guitar solo over electronic drums that just makes you want to slap whoever first melded hip hop and rock for helping to ruin both genres, he calls the pump fake and drops back to the hook. A strong song from a strong band, this could totally be a summer time hit. You know one of those songs that you loved in April when no one cared and then you want to kill people when you hear it in August? Then five years later, it reminds you of the summer of 2007 and you get all teary eyed? Yeah that's the kind of shit I mean.

Check these guys out, their videos are fucking AMAZING and the songs kick total ass too.....

Here's some links...

MYSPACE

Much Love in the Evil Sound by Diet Kong