Hot Chip - The Warning
The Warning is the 2nd album by Hot Chip. The band built up a loyal fanbase around their first album "Coming On Strong" which has now expanded following their hit single and support slots with Mylo, LCD Soundsystem and Goldfrapp. Representing the point in a record collection where Prince, Talking Heads, Madlib and every drunken Indie disco you've ever attended converge, Hot Chip seem poised to buck the trend of all hype being synonymous with shit, through the release of 2nd full-length 'The Warning'. Herky-jerky without reliance on the increasingly threadbare Fire Engines/Gang Of Four/ACR schematic, Hot Chip delight in cramming their music full of gloopy electro, spindly guitars and right-angled vocals - the resultant gumbo appearing both euphorically spontaneous and intricately complex. Opening with a smear of ice-water synths, first song 'Careful' sets the tone perfectly - puncturing a deceptively calm introduction with Vicks Vapour rave-stabs, a laconic vocal and frenetic beats a-go-go. From here, Hot Chip change gear completely for the syrupy electro-slink 'Boy From School', wherein the London-based mob plunder Daft Punk's less squelchy back-catalogue for inspiration, before the decks are cleared on previous single and indie-pop gem 'Over And Over'. Elsewhere, 'Arrest Yourself' is the sound of Beck sniffing a line of sherbet out back, 'So Glad To See You' tickles an emotional duet from a vocoder foundation, whilst 'No Fit State' is a synth-addled sing-a-long stomp.
It might be a weird combination of genres and sounds but you have to keep in mind the fact that they are only nerdy blokes on synthesizers.
In short, Over And Over is retro indie-disco fodder which plays on the nostalgia of when vintage electro pop really was considered futuristic. "Like the monkey with a miniature cymbal, the joy of repetition really is in you," the singer imparts, clearly referring to the old Duracel adverts. Surely this imagery is too clichéd now to impress anyone? Or will Hot Chip be the next in line to flog the dying breaths out of this old horse? We shall have to see.
Tracklist:
1. Careful
2. And I Was A Boy From School
3. Colours
4. Over And Over
5. Just Like We Breakdown
6. Tchaparian
7. Look After Me
8. Warning
9. Arrest Yourself
10. So Glad To See You
11. No Fit State
12. Won't Wash (Hidden Track)
*Caution, contents might be hot...
