Speaking on the single, the band wrote,
"'Bay Boys' is a biker gang allegory, the story of a wandering character who’s always seeking escape. The voice in the prechorus is like his conscience telling him he’s unfulfilled, but he’s idealized this life on the road and just keeps on running away. A particularly dark twist in a story I was reading left me in a heavy mood that inspired this song’s sort of ironic and a bit tragic 80s romance narrative."
PRE-ORDER: Hot Flash Heat Wave - Sportswear (due March 11, 2022).
Hot Flash Heat Wave are currently on the Sportswear World Tour, including shows across North America, the United Kingdom, and Europe. Their shows in the UK/EU have been postponed to August and September 2022. Tickets are on sale now.
HOT FLASH HEAT WAVE LIVE
with Marc E Bassy ^
Feb 3 - Seattle, WA - Showbox Sodo ^
Feb 4 - Vancouver, BC - Commodore ^
Feb 6 - Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom ^
Feb 8 - Boise, ID - Knitting Factory ^
Feb 9 - Salt Lake City, UT - The Depot ^
Feb 10 - Denver, CO - Cervantes ^
Feb 11 - Omaha, NE - Slowdown ^
Feb 15 - Los Angeles, CA - Teragram Ballroom
Mar 15 - Santa Cruz, CA - Catalyst
Mar 16 - Sacramento, CA - Ace of Spades
Mar 17 - San Francisco, CA - The Regency
Mar 19 - Ventura, CA - Ventura Music Hall
Mar 20 - Los Angeles, CA - The Fonda
Mar 28 - St. Paul, MN - The Treasury
Mar 29 - Milwaukee, WA - X-Ray Arcade
Mar 30 - Chicago, IL - Subterranean
Apr 1 - Ferndale, MI - Loving Touch
Apr 2 - Toronto, ON - Monarch
Apr 3 - Montreal, QC - Bar LeRitz
Apr 5 - Boston, MA - Middle East Upstairs
Apr 7 - New York, NY - Brooklyn Made
Apr 8 - Washington, DC - Songbyrd
Apr 9 - Philadelphia, PA - Kung Fu Necktie
Apr 10 - Carborro, NC - Cats Cradle Backroom
Apr 11- Asheville, NC - The Grey Eagle
Apr 12 - Nashville, TN - High Watt
Apr 13 - Atlanta, GA - Masquerade Purgatory
Apr 14 - Orlando, FL - The Abbey
Apr 15 - West Palm Beach, FL - Respectables
Apr 16 - Jacksonville, FL - 1904 Music Hall
Apr 19 - Houston, TX - White Oak Upstairs
Apr 20 - San Antonio, TX - Paper Tiger
Apr 21 - Austin, TX - Empire Control Room
Apr 22 - Dallas, TX - Deep Ellum Art Co.
Apr 23 - Oklahoma City, OK - 89th Street
Apr 24 - Albuquerque, NM - Launchpad
Apr 25 - Phoenix, AZ - Rebel Lounge
Apr 28 - Santa Ana, CA - Constellation Room
May 13 - San Luis Obispo, CA - Shabang Music Festival
Aug 15 - Norwich, UK - Voodoo Daddy's
Aug 16 - Brighton, UK - The Hope & Ruin
Aug 18 - Bristol, UK - The Louisiana
Aug 19 - London, UK - Moth Club
Aug 20 - Birmingham, UK - Dark Horse
Aug 22 - Manchester, UK - YES Basement
Aug 23 - Newcastle, UK - Head of Steam
Aug 24 - Glasgow, UK - Broadcast
Aug 25 - Sheffield, UK - Sidney & Matilda
Aug 27 - Hamburg, DE - Nochtwache
Aug 29 - Berlin, DE - Berghain Kantine
Aug 30 - Cologne, DE - Blue Shell
Aug 31 - Amsterdam, NL - Paradiso Upstairs
Sep 1 - Antwerp, BE - Trix Café
Sep 2 - Paris, FR - Supersonic
Hot Flash Heat Wave is here to take you away—to put your head in the clouds for a few minutes, if only to enjoy the view. The San Francisco trio of Adam Abildgaard, Nick Duffy, and Ted Davis have built a loyal following and constant buzz over the last several years, with the 2019 EP Mood Ring standing as their most kaleidoscopic work to date. Merging the quintessential melodies of pop's past with contemporary touches to forge something truly unique, Hot Flash Heat Wave is just starting to create their own sonic world.
All three members of Hot Flash Heat Wave have known each other since high school, playing together in various incarnations even while temporarily spreading themselves out across the California landscape after graduating. After a few years in the scene, Abildgaard and Duffy eventually formed the band in 2010: "It was really just for fun," Abildgaard explains. "We were doing it because it felt good." Davis joined the duo shortly thereafter.
The band's 2015 debut Neapolitan was crafted in the SF house they lived in together, with heavy influences from the Bay Area's burgeoning garage rock scene. "We'd get together in the living room, talk about the songs, break into groups and work on the tracks," Abildgaard says. "We were figuring out how to write together and discovering what works best with that process."
The 2017 follow-up Soaked saw Hot Flash Heat Wave loosening up their sound, with lush classic rock and pop influences seeping into their heady brew; it was also their first record where the trio had full autonomy in the studio. "It was an empowering exercise for us as producers, because we had access to a candy land of new equipment," Duffy remembers.
Last year's Mood Ring EP launched the group into another realm entirely—their truest-to-heart release yet, synthesizing a wide range of influences encompassing My Bloody Valentine, Frank Ocean, New Order, and Toro y Moi into something that sounded truly their own. Lead single "Glo Ride" bounces with a slight R&B tilt against a dark, trippy atmosphere, while "Sky So Blue" finds the band spiralling into full-on psychedelia, complete with layers of spell-casting keyboards and a wonderfully zonked-out breakdown.
"It's the first record where we felt fully in charge of our sound and direction," Davis comments on the creative strides made on Mood Ring. "We were writing more personal music, letting go of ideas about what we should sound like and exploring vulnerable, exciting places." And the future only seems brighter from here: with a new LP coming in 2021, Hot Flash Heat Wave is preparing for the next step up the staircase in their absolute blast of a sonic trip, with determination to elevate their craft in the process.
"Everyone wants to be able to listen to a song they relate to when they're feeling down," Abildgaard says when discussing the band's dedication to their music. "When we write these songs, it's like a healing experience for me, and that's what I want others to feel too."
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