Whirlwind Heat

It was an immortal genius who years ago prophetically proclaimed, "the heat is on." It's safe to say that no one knew Mr. Frey's words would still hold true twenty years later…no one except for the Whirlwind Heat.

In a mere five hours, the three lads from the Heat managed to write and record ten one-minute songs at Detroit popster Brendan Benson's Grand Studio. The songs whip and weave around all their ancestral influences, but ultimately stand as independent, original and cohesive. These songs are "Flamingo Honey".

Tracks like "Meat Packers" and "Muffler" are sicker and sludgier than anything the Melvins or Mudhoney has ever done, while the albums' bookends of "the Bone" and "Lazy Morning" are sweeter than a kiss on the cheek from Shirley Temple. Add to that the pseudo-slip-hop of "H is O" (see again Glen Fry) and the confused fuzz fumbling of "Pearl Earring" and it's apparent that Beck would be quite welcome on any afternoon picnic with the three well-mannered boys from Grand Rapids.

The Whirlwind Heat, a group of spazzoids in their early twenties has already lived well beyond their years. The bass-drums-synth trio has toured Europe, Australia and Japan with the likes of the White Stripes, the Dirtbombs and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. They've been known to dry hump on-stage, sending all the kids into convulsions.

In comparison to their 2003 Jack White produced debut album "Do Rabbits Wonder?" "Flamingo Honey" ultimately seems more precise and thought out...something to be said in comparing an album that took nigh on a year to record ("Rabbits") versus an album that took five hours to WRITE and record. Only the Whirlwind Heat can get away with writing an album in an afternoon and having it as the best thing they've ever done. Plus, with a running time of only ten minutes, you can listen to this record four times in the same span it'd take to listen to the new Strokes record.

Dim Mak Releases:
DM063 Whirlwind Heat "Flamingo Honey" 10"/CD August 24, 2004

Press

Updated 3/02/05
CMJ Alert August 23, 2004
This weeks essential new releases: Whirlwind Heat
Flamingo Honey

In the tradition of the Residents' The Commercial Album (40 songs in 40 minutes), Whirlwind Heat presents Flamingo Honey: 10 songs, 10 minutes, written and recorded in firve hours, and the results are somehow better then their Devo-worshipping full length: "The Meat Packers" and "Muffles" nod to Mudhoney and Houdini-era Melvins; the serpentine "No Gums" could be the worlds most blissfully short Soul Coughing song; and "H iS O," with its goofy '80s keys and squealing falsetto, could easily be mistaken for a Midnight Vutures B-side.
ATTN: Short attention span theatergoers, Beck, Melvins and Mudhoney fans
Of Note: Flamingo Honey was produced by power-popper Brendan Benson

Updated 2/07/05
Arthur September 2004
Whirlwind Heat
Flamingo Honey EP

C: This is the new EP from the Detroit band Jack White called the closest we're going to get to Devo in this generation.
D: Hmph. I will be the judge of that!
C: 10 songs, 10 minutes, each song almost exactly a minute.
D: [Listening to "The Meat Packers"] Sounds like when the White Stripes covered all those Beefheart songs on that Sub-POp 7".
C: You're totally right! Good call.
D: These guys sound a little smug to me. They're just good enough that they're getting laid.
C: I like conceptual limits, generally. Sometimes it gets you out a a creative jam, makes you go into a new space you wouldn't otherwise thought of. It necessitates invention and problem solving, keep you from getting too set in your ways. Standard John Cage theory, right? Brian Eno...
D: These guys should work with Eno!
C: He did produce Devo's first album, didn't he? Hmm. Perhaps it can be arranged.

Updated 2/07/2005
CMJ August 23, 2004
Points of Impact: Whirlwind Heat
Words: Team Retail

Retail: Shipping 7k. P & P in Amoeba and Newbury Comics. Support from Virgin, Rasputin, Aron's, Tower, Kim's, more.
Radio: Going for adds on August 10. Their last album, Do Rabits Wonder? was No.3 Most Added and hit No. 34 on the CMJ radio 200. Focus Tracks are "The Meat Packers," "Flamingo Lawns." Select stations have already been blasting "The Meat Packers" thanks to Dim Mak sampler, Duct Tape Rainbow. Commerical specialty servicing in the works.
Video: No videos are being shot for this album
Press/TV: Interview in upcoming Skyscraper. Reviews in CMJ New Music Monthly, Rolling Stone, Alternative Press, Arthur, Entertainment Weekly, Soma, Magnet, MeanStreet, Beautiful Decay, While You Were Sleeping.
Tour: EP release party in Detroit at the Magic Stick (August 20) with Thunderbirds Are Now! and Slumber Party. More dates announced soon.
Internet: official site at whirlwindheat.com. Nifty fan sites are located at girlwindheat.tk.
Notes: Like the Residents' Commercial Album, Flamingo Honey by Detroit bass-drum-synth trio Whirlwind Heat is a song cycle of one-minute bursts. However, the post-Arab On Radar Devo-addled weirdos shucked these 10 oysters in record time- all 10 songs written and recorded in five hours spent with producer Brendan Benson. Whirlwind Heat was the first band to be signed with Jack White's Third Man imprint and toured the world with the White Stripes...totally slept on and totally awesome.

Updated 2/07/05
Under the Radar Summer 2004
Whirlwind Heat
Flamingo Honey
Dim Mak

"Following suit to Jack White's produced Do Rabits Wonder ? This time instead of naming all their songs different colors, each song is exactly one minute in length, all 10 of them. Recommended for fans of: Sonic Youth, Brainiac, Beck."

Updated 09/02/04
Junk Media
Whirlwind Heat "Flamingo Honey"
Dim Mak 2004

"Flamingo Honey, the latest effort from Grand Rapids mischief-makers Whirlwind Heat, is a quick one. Written and recorded in five hours, these 10 one-minute songs are too brief to be taken seriously, yet the album whirs by too quickly to not immediately play it again.

Most of these tiny 10 are simply fun and rocking sketches, like the snarling "Meat Packer" and funky, synthesizer bleeping "The H is O" (you complete the phrase: they didn't have enough time.) The absurd and very Beck-like "A Worms Coat" is almost good enough to forgive that "Flamingo Lawns," two tracks later, is basically the same exact song - plus a badass harmonica break. Opener "The Bone" and closer "Lazy Morning" are slower, sweeter songs that keep the tone nicely schizophrenic, but really merit completion on a latter record. Of course, completion goes against the point of Flamingo Honey. It's the finest in throwaway records: the kind you can't throw away."
- Josh Drimmer
August 12, 2004

http://www.junkmedia.org/?i=1166

Updated 08/02/04
Zero Magazine

Live Show Reviews: The Thermals, Whirlwind Heat, The Adored-Bottom of the Hill, July 12
words:Daniela Cleveland

"It's standard show tradition for a headlining band to have openers that make them shine by whatever measure of contrast. It's been my pleasure to enjoy exceptions to the rule in the past year, my other most noteworthy example being Kings of Leon at Slim's last September, whose openers were 22/20 and Jet. This show was similar in spirit: three individually talented bands in genuine support of one another.

. . . Whirlwind Heat were in great form and uniform attire (imagine, if you will, Devo without flower-pot hats). Lead singer and MOOG player (yes, you read that correctly) David Swanson alternately thrashed and preened in punk-rock Jagger-esque fashion, while Brad Holland pummeled his drum kit in a frenzied state and Steve Damstra held it center with a fuzz-toned bass, making the absense of a continual lead instrument irrelevant. Much of their set consisted of songs being recorded in Sacramento for their follow-up to Do Rabbits Wonder? with a sound I can only describe as "punk-met-prog-in-a-garage-then-shook-hands. . ."


Updated 08/10/04
Arc Magazine
Mike Shepherd

Flamingo Honey, ten songs in ten minutes, written and recorded in five hours, is everything that their debut wasn't: tight, tweaked, addictive, and all over the map. Muted pop mash letters ("The Bone," "Lazy Morning") and freak-out dance parties ("H is O," "Ice Nine") are sandwiched between ragged chunks of ear-to-the-speaker-cone fuzzed-out post-punk psychedelia. But while these tiny little songs (each only a minute in length, give or take a second or two) lack a stylistic center, they all have one thing in common: They are obviously the work of a band set free and having a fucking blast.


Updated 08/17/04

Rolling Stone Magazine
Issue: September 2004
by Cristian Hoard




"Whirlwind Heat
Flamingo Honey
Dim Mak

Ten tracks, each clocking in at exactly one minute, from Jack White Stripes's Michigan pals. Flamingo Honey combines White Stripes thrash with electrodisco, and most tracks feature at least one good idea. Too bad the band didn't flesh any out into actual songs."

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