HotChaCha

Music:

Member Since: 08/04/2007
Band Website: http://exitstencil.org/hotchacha.php
Band Members: mandyguitar jovanavox lisadrums heatherbass
Influences:from the Midpoint Fest: "Man, I fell in love with that HotChaCha guitarist. Beautiful and could really play the rock. The whole band was great. The singer was jumping on the tables and swinging from the rafters, really. I don't think the bar owner was too happy about that, but... they need to come back! Thanks to Courtyard Cafe for being a great venue for us. "from Rockin in the Streets: What: HotChaCha at Rockin' in the Streets When: Friday, June 27 Where: East Village, Short North Web: rockinginthestreets.com Brilliantly titled debut EP Rifle, I Knew You When You Were Just a Pistol only hints at that prowess. "Hard to Be a White Boy in 1992" is the only immediate standout, a melancholy, melody-driven track buoyed by hand claps and spunky bass. Robbed of the band's in-person energy, the other three songs aren't as appealing at first, but each reveals its share of charm over the course of repeated listens. One can only imagine that each of these songs slays when infused with the kind of power promised from the stage show. Wander over from ComFest Friday and witness for yourself.from Columbus Alive!: Marquee Hot stuff By Chris DeVille blog I e-mail At the bottom of a Friday-night bill headlined by some of the most prominent names in femme rock rests HotChaCha, a Cleveland quartet that will almost certainly be climbing to the top of such marquees sooner or later. Pride Weekend's Rockin' in the Streets is HotChaCha's last show in Columbus for a while, but it culminates many months of catching eyes and perking ears. Here and in their hometown, the band has been riling up audiences with a live show built on singer Jovana Batkovic's charisma and a sound that's alternately alluring and ferocious. Playing a slinky strain of post-punk/new-wave urban squall in the vein of Kim Gordon's contributions to Sonic Youth, the gal pals have earned the reputation as one of Ohio's most thrilling live acts.from Slug Magazine: HotChaChaThis all-girl Cleveland foursome packs a helluva punch, with loud, edgy pop/rock and no apologies. The tracks are huge and in your face and frontwoman Jovana Batkovic’s vocals are spot-on with any other female lead in the business. To top it all off, HotChaCha is bilingual. These tracks come in English, hints of French, and a whole lotta German. The only downside is this album is only four tracks long, playing more like an EP than a full-length. On the plus side, it boasts a skinny little price tag and the album is definitely an all-out bang for your buck (pun not intended). Definitely plan on giving this one a spin. –Kat Kellermeyerfrom Real Detroit Weekly: I stumbled upon HotChaCha when they played Child Bite's recent record release party at The Pike Room. These four girls rocked my socks off, blitzing through a high energy set as super charismatic blonde lighting rod of a front woman, Jovana Batkovic twirled in her maroon dress as she danced with the crowd. Batkovic's huffin' and puffin' vocals drive the Brat-pack tongue-in-cheek teenage punk of "It's Hard To Be a White Boy in 1992." HotChaCha pull off possibly pretentious bilingual tunes like "J'Accuse" and "Wir Tazan" with a raw, crackling force that drives these sexy Cleveland chicks. —THOMAS MATICHfrom I Rock Cleveland: "I have it on good authority that the four young ladies in Cleveland's Hot Cha Cha have been tearing up local stages with some of the best live shows around town. I can't confirm this rumor as I've been out of action for a bit, but trust me here, unlike most of my other sources, this isn't just some loud mouth I overheard at the bar after a few Pabst, this one's legit.Now, while I can't vouch for their performances, even if their myspace photo galleries seem to back up everything I've heard, I can vouch for their music -- a playful, powerful, and sophisticated mix of big city, post-punk and new wave that sounds far more refined than their Cleveland address might imply." - Bill Rocks Clevelandfrom Cleveland Free Times: "HotChaCha delievered a particularly brash set. lead singer Jovana, looking very Karen O-like in her homemade outfit....the bands mix of old (X-Ray Spex) and new (the Yeah Yeah Yeahs) was pretty addictive and made for an appealing visual display." - Jeff Nieselfrom Scene Magazine: "HotChaCha's stage shows exude the sort of hopped-up madness usually associated with a cooler filled with energy drinks and a backpack stuffed with candy bars.It's positively intense up there.""...a group that makes frosty indie pop sound so groovy and nostalgic."- Claire Cyganfrom Cleveland Free Times: "HotChaCha held it all together by relentlessly pushing 101 percent..."- Michael David Toth
Sounds Like: SRC IMG=" "

Burning River Roller Girls High Speed Video from Alexander Boxerbaum on Vimeo .

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HOTCHACHA - HARD TO BE A WHITE BOY IN 1992 from Kurt P Vincent on Vimeo . .... .. ..----------"These four girls rocked my socks off, blitzing through a high energy set as super charismatic blonde lighting rod of a front woman, Jovana Batkovic twirled in her maroon dress as she danced with the crowd. Batkovic's huffin' and puffin' vocals drive the Brat-pack tongue-in-cheek teenage punk of "It's Hard To Be a White Boy in 1992." HotChaCha pull off possibly pretentious bilingual tunes like "J'Accuse" and "Wir Tazan" with a raw, crackling force that drives these sexy Cleveland chicks. " Detroit Weekly._____________________________________________________ _________HOTCHACHA: Rifle, I Knew You When You Were Just A Pistol Jun 16, 2008 By Eric Davidson CMJ Cleveland, Ohio, may be mired in perhaps it's worst recession ever, but when life hands Clevelanders a lemon, they tend to squeeze it into a Budweiser and call it a fancy drink. On this 4-song debut EP, this all-femme foursome squeeze late '80s 4AD into today's A.D.D. indie subset, with little regard for lilting over-reverbed soundscapes, but lots of chiming '80s chorus pedals that take dead horse post-punk riffs out of the glue factory for a spell. The German lyrics in "Heidi Was Never Good" come less from trolling for a Euro-trash 'tude, but more likely are a product of one of these gals filling a freshman requirement so she can chat with her grandma after church. Actually, singer Jovana Batkovic was born in Bosnia and lived in Germany 'til her teens. Cleveland's ethnic like that.Supposedly Hotchacha use a garbage can to relieve themselves at their practice space, and from the sounds of it they also utilized that kind of determination to actually buy records along the way, rather than relying on Vice to tell them what post-punk is. (Though they would totally sound at home on Vice.) The vibe here is art-school dropout, the look approachable punk-gal, but the songwriting simmers out of Ohio's femme-forged, rustic alt-rock past (Heartless Bastards, Scrawl).____________________________________________________ ____________Slug Magazine: HotChaCha Rifle, I Knew You When You Were A Pistol Exit Stencil Recordings Street: 06.05 HotChaCha = Garbage + Rogue Traders + The Sounds This all-girl Cleveland foursome packs a helluva punch, with loud, edgy pop/rock and no apologies. The tracks are huge and in your face and frontwoman Jovana Batkovic’s vocals are spot-on with any other female lead in the business. To top it all off, HotChaCha is bilingual. These tracks come in English, hints of French, and a whole lotta German. The only downside is this album is only four tracks long, playing more like an EP than a full-length. On the plus side, it boasts a skinny little price tag and the album is definitely an all-out bang for your buck (pun not intended). Definitely plan on giving this one a spin. –Kat Kellermeyer
View HotChaCha's EPK
Record Label: exit stencil
Type of Label: Indie