Synthesized music has a tendency to be, well, lifeless. Amongst the layers of vibrating keyboards and stiff drum machines there’s very little vitality. Its all electronics and no emotion. This is the main reason why someone might shove Hot Chip off; they’re essentially a traditional pop band with synthesizers. But to write Hot Chip off would be to pass up a great band that makes electronic music with, surprisingly, a lot of soul.
What sets Hot Chip apart initially is that they’re a real band, not just some guy on a lap top. Hot Chip has five members who play every sound on the album with a variety of synths and drum machines, not to mention two excellent vocalists. Joe Goddard and Alexis Taylor supply a constant stream of ethereal and melodic vocal hooks that accent the layers of soaring synths that make up their sophomore album, The Warning. Add in robotic drum machine beats and you have a basic techno outfit, but the men of Hot Chip are more than musicians, they’re ambitious songwriters.
After the choppy yet melodic opener “Careful”, things really get started with the surreal single “And I Was A Boy From School”. Based around a moody and entrancing synth line, Taylor delivers a series of eerie lyrics wrapped around deadpan and deceptively melodic hooks. The building chord progressions create a lush sound scape of frighteningly real emotion. The other standout is the title track whose playful and poppy keyboards are juxtaposed by oddly threatening lyrics. But to be picky about lines like “Hot Chip will break your legs/ Snap off your head” would be ignoring a superb pop song. The album has plenty of strong songs: “Arrest Yourself”, “(Just Like We) Breakdown”, “So Glad To See You”, but also has some weaker songs which fade after a few listens.
The Warning is ultimately a successful album that is a deceptively easy listen. Because the songs are drenched in beautifully simple synthesizers and processed vocals, its easy to miss the keenly honest song-writing. Hot Chip have made an album of soulful, vital, and emotional electronic music that rarely disappoints.
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