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The opening track “Out at the Pictures”, on Hot Chip’s third studio release, starts off with some computerized feedback and a gentle synthesizer melody that gains momentum until it breaks down into a full on electro soul-funk jam. It’s the aural equivalent of 20 luminescent go-go dancers shaking it in your ear drums. That’s the kind of wild auditory imagination that the London based electro-pop quintet is known for. They can cover territory ranging from smooth talking r & b numbers to madcap pop to hard rocking dance floor grinders, often times all within one song.

The story of Hot Chip’s synthesized origin is surprisingly organic. The songwriting core of the band is composed of Alexis Taylor and Joe Goddard. They met during their sixth form at the South London Elliot School studying music. Finding common ground in their tastes in music, the duo began acquiring inexpensive keyboards, guitars and various percussion instruments to record within their home. Soon after, another school friend, Owen Clarke impressed them with his quick witted instrumentation and ingenious sound experiments. He became the third member and after a few EPs the trio hammered out their 2004 debut album Coming on Strong. The wide range of influences included in the album, from Prince, The Beach Boys, Stevie Wonder, Neil Young, Prince, Ween, Madlib and Devo, made for some interesting sounds and rhythms, particularly the whip crackin’ bass poppin’ Prince homage “Down with Prince”. This was enough to get them noticed and signed to both Astralwerks and DFA record labels.

With the backing of notable indie/dance record labels, Hot Chip pressed on, recording their next album entitled The Warning, entirely in their home recording studio despite offers to work in a professional studio from DFA records. The difference between Coming on Strong and The Warning is as much as night is to day. It’s definitely the same group with the same kinds of sounds but everything has been amped up. The rhythms are manic and heavy, sound sampling is all over the place, the songwriting takes on more twists and turns while the lyrics and vocals simultaneously became more open and accessible. Alexis Taylor even acknowledges the press regarding the first album in the lyrics on the lead single “Over and Over” by singing “Laid back? I’ll give you laid back!” The album was a commercial and critical success with two songs from the album, “Over and Over” and “Boy from School”, emerging as top ten UK singles and the band was recognized in 2006 by being nominated for the Mercury Prize, they were beaten out by Sheffield rockers The Arctic Monkeys, but that didn’t stop them from becoming a wildly popular touring juggernaut. Because of their intense touring, the band converted part time members Al Doyle and Felix Martin into full time members.

After a string of tour dates, remixes, and a DJ Kicks album (Featuring the original song “My Piano”) released in 2007, Hot Chip released their anticipated new album “Made in the Dark” on Feb 4^th 2008. From the start the album sounds more precise and more focused, that’s not to say that it’s predictable in any way, each song is distinctly its own, whether it’s a forward thinking floor filler or a heart felt ballad. The obvious lead single is the straight ahead impulsive pop number “Ready for the Floor”, which was actually written for Kylie Minogue, but for whatever reason she didn’t perform it, so the band took it right back and filled it with their trademarked ticks and clicks and guitar licks. Another standout song is “Shake a Fist”, that starts off as an ominous dance number about drugs before pausing and unleashing a bassline that’s got a fair shake at world domination.

Hot Chip has crafted an album that travels to all corners of the popular music paradigm while retaining their unique approach and sound. If you fancy dance floor throbs, sensitive slow jams and everywhere in between give Made in the Dark a spin. I dare you not to dance, and yes, head bobbing and toe tapping count as dancing.

Hot Chip – Ready for the Floor

Hot Chip – One Pure Thought

Hot Chip’s Fantastic Video For Ready for the Floor:

Hot Chip Discusses Made in the Dark

Hot Chip Myspace