My ex called me the other day to complain about the weather. She doesn't own an AC and all the fan was doing was spinning hot air in her face. "Make it go away, Iman," an old game that kinda stopped being funny when I couldn't make it do so. "I can't sleep, I'm just lying here naked…" It was too hot to be a come on till the past rushed back: things weren't the same, it was similar and different.
Like Girl In A Coma's excellent version of "Heatwave".
I was under the impression the Martha and the Vandals classic should have been put to sleep by now, it had absolutely nothing to add to the conversation after decades of over use. But until you've heard the girls slow the beat by a beat and Nina Diaz's heated and spinning desire singing here, you haven't gotten the entire picture. The band drops out a little and Nina has a scary botherness on the best verse in the song, "Sometimes I stare in space, tears all over my face…" She changes a rush of desire into an expression of sexual confusion.
The thing with "Heatwave" is that the chorus is so powerful, the title such a summer time chant, people rush the verses to get there, but the reason it is a classic of such immense proportions is because the verses are so great. Nina is such a smart singer she does what I have NEVER HEARD ANYONE DO. She insists that you listen to it. So you do and the confusion lowers itself upon the song like the humidity and smog.
Nina's sister Phanie on drums and Jenn Alva on bass add handclaps and rippling triplets to hold the bass steady and the mood is very indie and oddly DIY, but Nina's vocals are so good they don't seem to be a matter of life and death. It is really a remarkable performance… I can't explain it or understand it…
Grade: A