3 out of 5

Produced by: Butch Walker, Eric Valentine, Rob Cavallo, Steve Bays, Tim Palmer, Hot Hot Heat

Label: Sire

I was apparently in the minority for really liking Hot Hot Heat’s major label debut, Elevator.  However, I wasn’t really keen on their Sub Pop breakout, Make Up the Breakdown, as it sounded (to my ears) like every other band trying to out-quirk and out-garage rock their peers in that mid-to-late 00s, cusp-of-the-fully-digital age merry-go-round of ADD top hits.  Embracing their garnered spotlight with an expanded sound, smoothed out songwriting and singing, and a producer who knew how to juggle studio tricks with the group’s festering jitteriness, Elevator emerged as a slick pop-rock highlight, almost end-to-end singles.

Happiness Ltd. Sort of continues this trend, but now HHH travels too far in that direction, glossing things up even more and whittling any given track down to the what feels like a template: Here’s a Strokes guitar sound; here’s the drumbeat; here’s a cutely warbly vocal; here’s a catchy chorus.  And, I mean, the tracks are good as a result, and some are great: regardless of some appearing on a previous EP, tracks like the opening title tune, My Best Friend, and Give Up? have an undeniable, toe-tapping energy.  The songs in between, while taking a listen to accept how polished and edges-shorn-off they are, are also catchy and fun.

But the sacrifice of using that 3 minute template is a complete lack of memorability.  I kept glancing at the disc’s runtime and realizing that several songs had passed without my notice.  Going back to them – no, I definitely heard them, they just made zero lasting impact.  This is, in effect – and perhaps ironically – a limitation the entire album faces, as a few notable tracks aren’t enough to turn the tide of averageness.