Hot Chip - Deliciously More-ish
As menacing as a man in a stripy jumper can be
| 16 May 2006
They are Casio in spirit and Fender in heart, playing live shows with mashed guitars and pogo-ing to garage beats played on rare synthesisers; it's difficult to tell whether Hot Chip love a classic house tune or an indie punk three-minute blast.
Following reactions to their 2004 debut 'Coming On Strong' these house geeks, otherwise known as songwriting team Joe Goddard and Alexis Taylor, politely stuck their fingers up at all those who had filed them as Royksoppy chillout-indie-beats. The resulting punky single Over and Over, was laden with bouncy beats, retro synths and Taylor menacingly singing "Laid back? I'll give you laid back" (as menacing as a man in a stripy jumper can be), producing serial humming and many a driving remix.
Their new album 'The Warning' out on the 22nd (EMI) may sound like slickly-produced pop, but with a keener ear the innocent-sounding lyrics are revealed as something more dark i.e. "Hot Chip will break your legs, snap off your head." The beats are interspersed with cowbells, hand-claps, glockenspiels and robotic chants, making them all ridiculously danceable and mixable.
Jim Noir, Gorillaz and King Creosote have all been treated to the Chip makeover, and there are plenty more cut-ups in the post. Give the DFA mix of Just Like We (Breakdown) and Justus Kohncke's take on Over and Over a spin on your player to hear some good examples of the remixers being remixed.
May will be a very busy month indeed for Hot Chip as they take their new sounds from 'The Warning' out on tour across the UK, starting with Dundee's 'One Big Weekend' on May 14, Cabaret Voltaire in Edinburgh on the 24th, and finishing at King Tuts in Glasgow on the 25th. Their one guitar and four synth shows are currently being hailed as the best live experience in the country, but it's not all Basement Jaxx lightshows and dancing girls; expect a more cartoonesque corduroy vibe. (Melissa Thomson)
Following reactions to their 2004 debut 'Coming On Strong' these house geeks, otherwise known as songwriting team Joe Goddard and Alexis Taylor, politely stuck their fingers up at all those who had filed them as Royksoppy chillout-indie-beats. The resulting punky single Over and Over, was laden with bouncy beats, retro synths and Taylor menacingly singing "Laid back? I'll give you laid back" (as menacing as a man in a stripy jumper can be), producing serial humming and many a driving remix.
Their new album 'The Warning' out on the 22nd (EMI) may sound like slickly-produced pop, but with a keener ear the innocent-sounding lyrics are revealed as something more dark i.e. "Hot Chip will break your legs, snap off your head." The beats are interspersed with cowbells, hand-claps, glockenspiels and robotic chants, making them all ridiculously danceable and mixable.
Jim Noir, Gorillaz and King Creosote have all been treated to the Chip makeover, and there are plenty more cut-ups in the post. Give the DFA mix of Just Like We (Breakdown) and Justus Kohncke's take on Over and Over a spin on your player to hear some good examples of the remixers being remixed.
May will be a very busy month indeed for Hot Chip as they take their new sounds from 'The Warning' out on tour across the UK, starting with Dundee's 'One Big Weekend' on May 14, Cabaret Voltaire in Edinburgh on the 24th, and finishing at King Tuts in Glasgow on the 25th. Their one guitar and four synth shows are currently being hailed as the best live experience in the country, but it's not all Basement Jaxx lightshows and dancing girls; expect a more cartoonesque corduroy vibe. (Melissa Thomson)
Check out our review of 'Boy From School' in this issue.
http://www.hotchip.co.uk