Seeking to revamp his act, Heat eventually made his sound more aggressive and began to be welcomed in the city's rock and punk clubs as well. Heat's popularity in the region led to tours all over the United States and a deal with the emerging indie label Sub Pop for the band's first two albums. The band then parlayed their newfound indie cache into a multi-record deal with a major label, Interscope Records in 1994, for which he released a handful of albums.
Reverend Horton Heat (also the name of the band Heath fronted) were quite popular during this alternative rock period of the '90's, due to their retro sound and rebellious attitude but also due to certain innovations The Reverend made such as roaring, distorted guitars. The fact the band rocked as hard as any punk band, and the band didn't look exclusively to pop culture of the past for its style, instead closely mimicked either the '50's style of dress or strraight punk attire, which is very similar in many respects also helped. As an added gimmick, the band's concerts also featured the Heath as The Reverend delivering mock sermons to incite the fans to near-frenzy until they would burst into another song.
By 1999, however, Heat was a victim of several label mergers and lost his record deal. Since then all Reverend Horton Heat albums have been released on various indie labels, of which Yep Roc has released several since 2003.
Though Heat's live show was always loud and rowdy, it wasn't until Heat's later albums, especially a release on the defunct Artemis label in 2002 that rocked harder than anything previously released from Heat, that his records captured the essence of his performances.
Surprisingly, this album may signal the dawn of a much more mellow Horton heat, one who is shedding his hard rocking persona to settle in a jazz groove. While I love his older stuff, I am loving this record just as much if not more than his other work.
Though the organ sound on this record is a very cool new wrinkle in Heat's musical palette, don't let me mislead you into thinking Heat hasn't brought his considerable guitar skills to the table. Though playing a much more controlled, subtle style, Heat's guitar prowess is on full display here and, make no mistake, this is his show no matter how much great Hammond B-3 sounds are featured on this disc.
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