Existing as a solo project with a rotating cast of hired guns backing frontman Will Anderson for much of their seven years producing music, New York based shoegaze and noise pop act Hotline TNT have finally taken the plunge for their third full length album and added bassist Haylen Trammel, drummer Mike Ralston and guitarist Lucky Hunter as full time members. Raspberry Moon builds on the foundation of the band’s 2023 breakout hit Cartwheel with more varied shoegaze and alternative rock sounds alongside catchy pop songwriting.
Opening track ‘Was I Wrong?’ acts as a perfect introduction to the intricately layered yet carefully arranged world of Hotline TNT, enhancing a Tom Petty style power ballad with a thick fog of fuzzed-out guitars. Peeling back the layers of ‘Was I Wrong?’ reveals a relatively straightforward yet memorable throwback pop rock song reminiscent of Weezer’s Blue Album viewed through a hazy stained glass of overdriven, feedback fuelled guitars fighting each other for dominance over the track’s melancholy core. While many bands within the -gaze genres are content to simply throw more and more guitar pedals at their songs until they’re a blurry mess, Hotline TNT instead wrap a hazy gauze of blown-out fuzz around a core of great songwriting.
Raspberry Moon builds on a tried and tested shoegaze formula, keeping the wall of sound approach intact but with a heavy focus on pop songwriting and psychedelic textures. Tracks like ‘Julia’s War’ and ‘Letter To Heaven’ feel like a bit of a contradiction, keeping the textured vocals low in the mix compared to the sea of overdriven guitars but both are built like typical pop songs with memorable choruses and catchy lead lines. This back and forth between carefully structured pop sensibilities and grainy noise creates a fascinating dynamic that helps Hotline TNT stand out in the shoegaze renaissance.
“This back and forth between carefully structured pop sensibilities and grainy noise creates a fascinating dynamic that helps Hotline TNT stand out in the shoegaze renaissance.”
While much of Raspberry Moon sticks to Hotline TNT’s core concept of tightly written pop-rock coated in a thin veneer of shoegaze noise, the album shines in the few moments that break free of this formula. On ‘Break Right’ the band take on more of a retro 90s ballard feel with a prominent piano line taking the spotlight away from the fuzzy guitars whereas ‘Dance The Night Away’ leans into slacker college rock tropes with a steady pace and gentle crescendo and ‘Lawnmower’ reinterprets Hotline TNT’s sound with subtle percussion and acoustic guitars steadily building up delicate layers of noise.
Instead of taking the approach of many other modern shoegaze bands and filling their tracks with as many overlapping effects as possible, Hotline TNT appreciate that less noise can be more impactful, enhancing their tight pop-rock songwriting with a warm layer of saturated fuzz. While stripping back some of the static that can make shoegaze an impenetrable wall of distortion and chorus, Hotline TNT deliver an accessible noise pop experience full of earworm guitar lines and memorable sing-along hooks.