Since its earliest iteration seven years ago, Hotline TNT has been, for all intents and purposes, Will Anderson’s solo project. For his 2023 breakout album Cartwheel, the shoegaze-inclined musician hit the studio with little more than the record’s producer, assembling its great 12 songs almost exclusively by himself. It was a big level up from Anderson’s first Hotline TNT record, 2021’s decidedly lo-fi Nineteen In Love, though his fiercely DIY ethos still gave way to Cartwheel’s cozy, delightfully imperfect fuzz. For maybe the first time, Cartwheel made Hotline TNT a buzz band beyond their New York City home base, sending them out on the road with peers and buzz-band predecessors Wednesday and earning their first proper festival gigs. Live, the songs on Cartwheel soared — that studio distortion became blissfully overwhelming, the melodies atop it sounding somehow even more triumphant. A full band, at least relative to just one dude, can have that effect.
