Dying Scene - January 19th, 2023

DS Show Review & Gallery: Heet Deth, Lollygagger, The Cult of SpaceSkull, and Hail Alien in Chicago (01.13.2023)

Heet Deth returned to Liar’s Club as headliners. We were excited to first introduce the duo to our readers last year. Julia Bards and Laila Eskin were dressed in their uniforms of red overalls with the band’s name slashed in white across the back. The black and red grease paint on their faces rendered them looking like slightly less deranged first cousins of the late Heath Ledger’s The Joker from The Dark Knight. Different color scheme but similar mood. In the case of Heet Deth, they don’t want the world to burn, just the stage on which they perform. And burn up the stage, they did. Blasting through its set, Heet Deth gave the crowd not just a visual wow, but an auditory one as well. The band directs its anger at those who put profits over people and the environment. In “Bootlicker” the band addresses those supporting politicians caging kids:

“How’s this for progress? I’ll set the stage We’ll flip the script, throw you in there How you think you’re gonna like it Bootlicker.”

Borrowing from cinematic history to make a point in “Planet of the Apes“:

“We’re not here to be put in our place

To praise the demagogues of a fascist state

Here is just one solution, reverse the institution

There is no master race This is the planet of the apes“

The group’s set also included “Blood,” “Big Bang Boom,” and “We Should Have a Party.” Heet Deth pulls no punches and the ferocity of its music and performances stick with you for days. Put this band in your ears, in front of your eyes, and on your “must see list.” Or for some, your “must see again” list.

Chicago Reader, October 28th, 2021 - by Lior Galil

Chicago’s Heet Deth make enough noise to wake the dead on Heet Deth Hooray!

“The members of Heet Deth, drummer-singer Julia Bard and guitarist-singer Laila Eskin, seem to have taken the right lessons from the early-2000s heyday of the White Stripes and Death From Above 1979—namely, that two people can whip up enough noise to make a bigger band overkill. On their debut full-length, September’s Heet Deth Hooray! (Don’t Panic), the Chicago gutter-rock duo play with such unrestrained fervor that you can imagine the devil perking up to listen—on the monstrous “Big Bang Boom,” Eskin contorts melodic low-end riffs into feverish, discordant blasts as hair-raising as the band’s lacerating paired hollers. Bard anchors Heet Deth’s devilish swing with rockabilly-style locomotion, particularly on “Motorcycle Race,” where a springy, chattering snare drum pushes the sassy stop-time stabs of Eskin’s flame-job guitar over the finish line. Bard and Eskin are astute vocalists, and rarely try to shout above their own din—instead they tend to sing only when they’ve dialed back their instruments. Every time they harmonize at top volume, though, they sound like they’re trying to tear their way out of a jail cell with the force of their vocal cords.”

Read on Chicago Reader

SAME STORY BUT IN BOT FORMAT (October 28th, 2021)

“Heet Deth from Chicago makes enough noise to wake the dead on Heet Deth Hooray!”

The members of Heet Deth, drummer Julia Bard and guitarist Laila Eskin, seem to have learned the right lessons from the early 2000s heyday of White Stripes and Death From Above 1979—that two people can whip up enough noise to make the band bigger than exaggeration. . In their full-length debut, September Hot Death Hooray! (Don’t panic), the Chicago rock duo plays with such unbridled fervor that you can almost imagine the devil listening—in brutal “Big Bang Boom,” Eskin transforms low melodic notes into frenetic, contrasting, hair-raising explosions like the band’s ripping double frosts. Bard swings the demonic Hit Death with a rockabilly-style movement, particularly in “motorcycle,” where a springing ambush and babbler pushes the brazen lunges of a time-stopping Eskin guitar over the finish line. Both Bard and Eskin are skilled singers, and they rarely try to scream above their noise – instead they tend to sing only when they reconnect to their instruments. Each time they chime in at a higher volume, they seem to be trying to force their way out of the prison cell by the force of their vocal cords.

Hit Death, Pussy Queen’s Mighty Journey, Rat’s Gap Wednesday 11/10, 8:30 pm, Sleeping Village, 3734 W Belmont, $5, 21+

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