Even disregarding the fact that Fitz and the Tantrums' "HandClap" single has climbed near the top of the Billboard rock charts this summer, the band's current North American tour might be one of the hottest you'll catch this year. Quite literally so, it would seem, considering the sextet's social media pages picture them sweating it up onstage so much that they've been dousing each other with water between songs to cool down. Specifically, an overheated stop in Austin, Texas, had the act pushing the needle dangerously into the red, leading frontman Michael "Fitz" Fitzpatrick to valiantly dump bottled H20 all over bearded synth man Jeremy Ruzumna.
"We were going through the south and most of the shows we played were at least 100 degrees when we were on-stage," the keyboardist explains of the near meltdown over the phone from Santa Monica, where he's sipping coffee by the beach on a rare day off. "I'm not kidding when I say I started to tingle on my left side. I was concerned for my health. Everybody was, because it was so hot. Before the encore, Fitz dumped a bottle of water on me and it actually helped a lot. It did fry out my inner monitors...but that's fine."
It's been six years since Fitz and the Tantrums first caught fire via the success of throwback soul-styled debut disc Pickin' Up the Pieces. Next up was sophomore effort More Than Just a Dream from 2013, whichyielded number one hit "Out of My League" and "The Walker," a wide-eyed, whistle-heavy earworm heard in countless TV programs and sports broadcasts. Since then, the group has shifted towards a more modernized approach, exemplified on the spring-released Fitz and the Tantrums. But even while the sonics have shifted from a vintage Motown towards a pearly smile blend of pop, fist-pumping EDM and hip-flitting dancehall, the deceptively-named Tantrums are still generally singing about having a good time.
"There's a sense of fun that goes throughout all the songs," Ruzumna relays to Westender, though clarifying, "There's a lot of party themes, but there's also darker, break up things. Those things are present on all three albums."
"When I met Fitz, he was writing songs about this nasty break up he went through; that's what the first album is about," the keyboardist continues. "I was going through a really nasty break up [too], so I was cheerleading along, playing the songs with even more anger and conviction because I could relate to them. Funny thing about that: the break up that I was going through at the time, we ended up getting back together. Now that's my wife!"
The group's self-titled album is likewise riding an emotional ebb and flow. Sassed-up synth stomp "Complicated" finds Fitzpatrick and co-vocalist Noelle Scaggs recalling the dizzying "fuck-and-fight" dynamic of certain relationships. On the flip, "Tricky" is a more optimistic, rafters-reaching anthem insisting that its worth sticking out tough times if the passion is there.
As for lead-off single "HandClap," which comes equipped with steadily hammered kick beats, worm-wriggle bass lines and eagle-fierce synth screeches, the song is a lusty, late night pledge to please ("I can make your hands clap"). Quite cheekily, the song was also written with audience participation in mind. Ruzumna reports that fans have been supportive of the Tantrums since day one, but seeing crowds ecstatically clapping their hands together to the call and response section of their latest hit single has been "cathartic."
"First of all, you spend all your time making an album – you're pent up in the studio, it's frustrating, it's painful. It really is like giving birth. It's a beautiful thing, but painful getting there," the musician explains of the creative process. "One of the best things is finally getting out there and playing [the music] live. You get that feeling of seeing people get into the songs. That's the pay off."
Fitz and the Tantrums play the Vogue Theatre on Aug. 24
