Illuminati Hotties blow out speakers and minds in FREE I.H.

Towards the end of “content//bedtime,” a standout on FREE I.H.: This Is Not the One You’ve Been Waiting For, Sarah Tudzin sighs “Exhausting, ain’t it?” She’s ostensibly referring to the endless churn of creating content that we must all endure to participate in the engine of capitalism. For Sarah, the creative force behind Illuminati Hotties, that engine happens to be the indie record label Tiny Engines. The Hotties had released their first record through the label, but after some musicians revealed behind-the-scenes drama with the company, Tudzin made the call to graciously exit their arrangement after her contract was fulfilled. Thus the planned second proper LP was shelved and a new one was recorded, a “decoy record,” as she calls it, in a mere three weeks. It’s self released, with some revenue still going to their old home, but it’s 100% Illuminati Hotties. Oh, and it totally rips.

With their debut album Kiss Yr Frenemies, the Hotties established themselves as purveyors of catchy, hook-y indie rock and tender balladry. FREE I.H. largely ditches that legacy and re-establishes Illuminati Hotties as a band capable of everything from electronic noise, double-speed punk, and Carribbean rhythm. All of these disparate parts come together to feel coherent with Tudzin’s sharp songwriting and stellar production. She’s a professional record engineer with plenty of experience working on other bands’ albums, but her work here shows a range that she hasn’t shown off before. Considering how a lesser band may have tossed a project like this away in the name of obligation, the wizardry at work here is impressive.

The lyrics are just as smart, winking at both the struggles with their label (“melatonezone”) and the current societal collapse (“free dumb”). On the aforementioned “content//bedtime,” Tudzin follows a Sister-era Sonic Youth-esque intro with a fun call and response chorus that references the band’s own website. Album opener “will i get cancelled if i write a song called ‘if you were a man you’d be so cancelled’” has some fun with the current specter of “cancel culture” while also suggesting “smashing” to a podcast (I recommend ours!). It’s all incredibly clever and charming.

Even dismissing the album’s backstory, Illuminati Hotties have created an impressively full-featured follow-up to their debut. It offers several creative lanes the band could go down in the future while doubling-down on Tudzin’s natural charm and production chops. It’s easy to imagine a proper second LP from the band being world-shatteringly good, no matter what label it ends up on.