Somewhere between those old 60s vinyl LPs where some odd composer did a moog album and say, the experimental hip-hop section, you might find this Hot Chip album. Laced with kooky keyboard hooks and these flat harmonies that just seem to work so well with the occasional, kind of sung, rap lyrics put on wax by a bunch of oddballs, this album is a strong freshman effort that is hard to compare to anything before it.
Based out of Wandsworth, SE London, Hot Chip are Alexis Taylor (vocals/keyboard) / Joe Goddard (beat master/vocals) / Owen Clarke (Keyboards/guitar) / Felix Martin (drums/MPC) / Al Do It (guitar). Call it quirky with a pop sensibility or just good music without boundaries, but you can’t deny the originality of their album “Coming On Strong.”
With references to automobiles and Prince – these are in song titles alone – the bands music is about having fun while creating original songs bursting with ideas. With tracks like “The Beach Party” sounding like a mellow stab at psychedelic soul from the 60’s and lyrics like, “Oh yeah I’m over here/Oh yeah you’re over there/You could get over here/then we could begin to share.” The words were obviously not designed to cure world hunger, in fact much of the lyrics do not make sense. But how can you deny references to Stevie Wonder on “Keep Fallin’” where Alexis Taylor claims he is “like Stevie Wonder but can see things.” A statement like that makes you stop and listen wondering if he really has balls enough to say such a thing or is just joking. Whatever he is going for, the combination of both statements alone makes me like them even more. He’s obviously joking as he later states, “Here now all you suckas/we the tightest motherfuckers/and you never seen this type of shit before now,” then makes reference to “smoking crack,” all the while singing thes rap styled lyrics. So you get it that these guys have a sense of humor that is smart and entertaining.
Other songs like “Crap Kraft Dinner” and “Down With Prince” are just a taste of the sarcastic humor and funk that this band has. With keyboards abounding throughout this album and a Brian Wilson philosophy while making this that in the studio, anything goes, they have created an album where anything goes. While some bands and artists use familiar loops or even whole songs to rehash the past, Hot Chip pays homage to it too, but in pieces, fragmented pieces that when put together have soul and just rock. |