Ears Wide Open: Left Field Messiah

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Left Field Messiah

Hot Hot Heat were one of the most caffeinated bands of the early 2000s. And having vocalist Steve Bays’ convulsive yelps firmly implanted in the music memory, you know he’s actually playing it cool as the frontman of Left Field Messiah, which we’ll go ahead and call a supergroup, just for old alliances’ sake.

Bays is joined in the trio by Fitz & the Tantrums keyboardist Jeremy Ruzumna and Erik Janson (ex-Wildling), engaging in what they describe as genre-fluid chaos.

Left Field Messiah debuted in September with the single “A.M. Moonlight” and followed up today with “Fuzz Machine.” Bays croons in the upper registers on the former, an end-of-the-disco-era smoothie, but on “Fuzz Machine” he’s everything — pleading soul man, tortured glam rocker, damaged punk and, briefly, Bowie imitator who proclaims “rock is dead.” Stabbing beats don’t wear out their welcome, and Ruzumna’s nifty keyboard solo on the bridge begs for a longer look in a dancefloor mix.

After all the song’s bloodletting, Bays decides “I’m a wreck,” and if so, we’re going down with the ship, dancing.

The song is from the trio’s forthcoming record, “In Praise of Bombast.”

||| Stream: “Fuzz Machine” and “A.M. Moonlight”

||| Also: Watch the video for “Fuzz Machine”