Review Summary: The band didn’t think people would get this far into such a shit fest.
I hoped The District Heat had an affinity for contrast and a sweet spot for the satirical in choosing such a banal color scheme and obvious symbolism for their debut album’s cover. A teal and orange heart falling apart is a perfect amalgamation of today’s stylistic clichés, but I play the fool for naïvely believing the four members of this Calgary band were intelligently mocking popular tropes. One minute and 48 seconds (the length of the first song, “Intro”) was all I needed to conclude that The District Heat are anything but self-aware.
Digestible is an adequate summation of these 11 songs; listeners need only hear each song once to absorb everything the band has to say, but there’s really no need to go past the first few songs. Generic song structures, uninspired guitar solos, and a repetitive rhythm section will lull the listener to sleep, if not annoying the hell out of them first. “Moon Walking is for Giants” might be worth listening to, if only for a lesson in blatant plagiarism. The chord progression for the ENTIRE SONG is lifted straight from Blondie’s “One way or another.” There are only two possible explanations for such obvious copying: 1) they are stupid enough to think “One way or another” is obscure or 2) the band didn’t think people would get this far into such a *** fest.
As you might guess, the lyrics are more focused on cheesy rhyme schemes than depth. Remarkably, “Whisper” manages to rhyme head, unsaid, shed, and dead in one verse, and hide, pride, collide, abide, and ride in another. Beyond the third-grade poetry there are lines lacking any coherent meaning. I’m not sure how to parse “Slingshot Stride’s” ‘trapped in a room you curse, swearing at the sky’ beyond the mixed metaphors, and I highly doubt the band is either.
