Send "Hot Chip " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Pitchfork |
 Ever since Hot Chip started as indie kids seemingly dabbling in classic soul and modern R&B, they've been underestimated (not least of which by us). Delivering lines about "20-inch rims" and "Yo La Tengo" in a proper English accent, as they did on their 2005 debut, can have that effect. Yet on their two subsequent records-- 2006's The Warning and 2008's Made in the Dark-- Hot Chip steadily rebuilt their reputation by toughening up their sophistipop side. Their melodies began to develop an itchy, nervous twitch, and they earned dancefloor credibility through an association with DFA.Best of all, Hot Chip crafted some of the sneakiest and most effective earworms around-- songs that seem deceptively simple and assuming on first listen became year-end list locks by listen number 10. Their quirky detours, winks, and nods were no longer Prince and Stevie Wonder shoutouts; instead, they were subtler, so the band that initially came across as affable goofballs eventually revealed themselves to be the smartest guys in the room. In short, after a half-decade of having our expectations challenged and any hesitations about them erased, it finally felt like we knew who Hot Chip were. But their fourth album, One Life Stand, changes things a bit. After dialing back some of their eccentricities, their latest feels if anything even more likely to be underestimated. Oddly, this is arguably their best record yet. Whether you'll agree will depend on what you want from Hot Chip and what you want from an album. One Life Stand is their most consistent and most complete record, but it's missing an A-list single on par with "Boy From School", "Over and Over", or "Ready for the Floor". It's also missing dance songs in the mode of the latter two, focusing instead on Hot Chip at their most lush and romantic. Some will claim it's them growing up, but that's not true-- they've always exhibited panache and sophistication. This is simply the first time since their debut that they've primarily honed in on those sensibilities, in the process revealing just how far they've come sonically in the past five years....full text |
| Musicomh |
| While the capricious, erratic behaviour of musical mavericks like Neil Young and Bob Dylan might enthral their followers, it's always nice when a recording artist behaves in a rather more sensible, rational way. Five-piece pop act Hot Chip are a case in point. From the listener's perspective, it seems as if Hot Chip have behaved rather like a customer services-orientated business: they've listened to their customers' complaints, and they've sought to remedy their faults. To explain: Hot Chip's last album, 2008's Made In The Dark, was a good record (it would certainly represent an all-time career best for Black Eyed Peas) but it never quite delivered the pop perfection promised by its predecessor album The Warning and its superlative lead-off single, Ready For The Floor. Made In The Dark was a purposely eclectic record, veering from the hyperactive disco of Hold On to ultra-sparse ballads like In The Privacy Of Our Love. But the album proved a mild disappointment not because of its all-over-the-place nature but rather because of its dearth of truly compelling songs....full text |
| Virgin |
| Dance-pop”. It is a tag which British bands of the last three decades have been forced to endure thanks to lazy music journalists. Categorisation is an easy way to make a point or find fans for a type of music. Eclectic groups from Basement Jaxx to Depeche Mode will be all too familiar with this. Hot Chip have always been touted as fine purveyors of danceable pop music since the success of second album 'The Warning'. Yet there is much more to the five-piece than crisp rhythms and catchy melodies. Unfortunately third studio album 'Made In The Dark' didn’t do much to dispel the notion that Hot Chip are the geeks of electropop. Praise from the critics was countered by the notion of a band standing still, making intelligent dance music but revealing little of their character. Much was also made of the self-conscious “zany” feel with the album seeming like a collection of very random tracks. It almost seems as if new album 'One Life Stand' has come about after a period of reflection on this. Previously it was ironic synths and metronomic beats which made Hot Chip so appealing, but now they have allowed the fans into a deeper, sometimes melancholy world. What was once more Justice or Kraftwerk in dance sensibilities is now as rich and emotional as Depeche Mode or Robert Wyatt....full text |
Hot Chip lyrics Music videoclips
