I have no doubt the lads from Hot Chip were the biggest geeks in their high school class. I'm sure the big athletic boys would call Alexis Taylor a four-eyed freak. The beautiful girls who would get smashed on the weekends on Bacardi Breezer's at the footy team captain's 16th birthday party would call Joe Goddard "fatty boomsticks"and sneer at any advances he would make towards them. They probably went home from school, cried into their TR-808's and vowed to get even.
As is the case with many of these geeky kids, as they grew up they did get even with these cretins in the only way they knew how. In a wonderfully delicious ironic twist, Hot Chip grew up to become one of the coolest pop bands on the planet. Their 4th long player, One Life Stand, keeps them as the coolest boys in school, with a collection of songs that although never reaching the highs of their finest moment to date, Made in the Dark, still manages to hit the mark.
Hot Chip's two finest assets are their phenomenal ability to create subtle, infectious melodic devices with both voice and instrument and lace what seems like innocuous electro-pop to the casual listener with genuine pathos. On this new record, nothing has changed. The finest moments on this album effectively strike at the heart as well as your feet, albeit in a much more subtle and restrained fashion than they have ever done previously. "Alley Cats" with its subtle marimba-esque riffage and dissertation on the stark realities of relationships, "Thieves in the Night" executed with its anxious rhythm and soaring synthetic instrumentation, and "One Life Stand" taking house music through the realms of infidelity and forgiveness via Jamaica with the wonderfully restrained use of steel drums.
Despite my praise, this is not an outstanding album: merely a very good one (the average "Brothers" and "Take it in" are primarily to blame for this). It is certainly an album for those already under Hot Chip's spell, and as Pix quite accurately noted, this album probably wont bring any new sheep to the flock. Certainly the slight change of tempo would do nothing to bring in those who's experience with this band extends only to the immediate "Over and Over". It's an album that grows on you as you live with it.
Arguably, this is Hot Chip's least cohesive offering to date. It yo-yo's between stark, stabbing synthesised soundscapes (the superb "I Feel Better"), subtle piano ballads (the cigarette lighter in the air evoking "Slush"), and effervescent freak-outs ("We Have Love"). However to dismiss the album on this basis would be unfair. The album's schizophrenic nature is a symptom of this band's range of ability, of influence and ultimately experience which highlights just how interesting this band are. Hot Chip keep making great soul music for every awkward white boy who was ever teased by the jock and rejected by the most beautiful girl in school. I hope they never stop.
Hot Chip's One Life Stand will be released in Australia 9th February
5 comments:
I actually think it might be their most consistent/cohesive. And I'm a hug fan of Coming On Strong / The Warning
im a big fan of "hand me down your love" my highlight especially after seeing the extended interviews with charles hayward
I agree with you in part Eduardo. Thematically, I think this album is extremely cohesive and consistent, with a clear thesis.
My "least cohesive album" comment stems from fact that I think that this album is still is a musical mish mash, which is far from a bad thing. That's one of the most interesting things about this band. Musically, each track offers something different to the next.
Can't wait to hear it!
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