For Austin TX's AMPLIFIED HEAT, making music is a family business, as Jim, Chris, and Gian Ortiz are brothers who have played together for much of their lives. Perhaps this history and familiarity contributes to their wonderfully organic, natural rock sound. Their first album," In For Sin," was a welcome blast of high-octane, balls to the wall boogie-rock. The fun, garage rock sensibility, dirty production, and loose, freewheeling performances that the band displayed injected new life into a genre that was nearing the beginning stages of "played out." Their newly released second full length record, thankfully, proves that their debut was no fluke.

"How Do You Like the Sound of That" treads on a lot of the same, well performed ground that "In For Sin" laid down. Tracks like "What Went Wrong" and "Amplified Boogie" would fit seamlessly on the band's debut, providing a familiar backdrop for the rest of the disc. They avoid the sophomore slump by injecting even more of a straight up blues influence into their music. "In For Sin" certainly had its bluesy moments, but songs like "Through and Through" and "Sickness" are authentic slow blues numbers that do a good job of destroying the notion that the band can only play fast. Overall, this subtle shift comes off as the perfect natural progression for the band. Another surprising expansion to the AMPLIFIED HEAT parameters comes in a solo courtesy of drummer Chris in a track called "SAPO." It only lasts for just under a minute, but it sets up the following track "Moonshine" perfectly.

If you notice, there is no question mark in the album title. They probably didn't include that punctuation because the brothers Ortiz already know what the answer to that question will be for rock fans everywhere. The answer, in case you're wondering, is "fucking fantastic!"

- Broadbent

OFFICIAL SITE: www.amplifiedheat.com

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