Hot Chip

Hot Chip is one of those bands that's clearly learning on the job. Their first album, Coming On Strong, was a charmingly geeky, lo-fi exercise in British white-boy funk, full of primitive beat programming and cheeky lyrics about 20-inch rims and shiny Escalades delivered with decidedly un-gangsta falsettoes and deadpan, laddish drawls. But their second full-length album, The Warning, tones down the geekiness in favor of genuinely well-crafted grooves and even the occasional straight-faced ballad. It's a huge step forward for a band that used to flirt dangerously with novelty act status.

The much improved programming skills of lead Hot Chippers Alexis Taylor and Joe Goddard are on full display right from the get-go, as The Warning opens with a very Art of Noisy blast of stuttering rhythms called "Careful," followed quickly by one of the album's catchiest and most danceable grooves on "And I Was a Boy From School." "Colours" and "So Glad to See You" find the band delving into the wistful synth-pop of Postal Service, while lead single "Over and Over" is a big, robust dance-pop anthem complete with nonsensical spelling-bee chants ("S-E-X-I-N-G-C-A-S-I-O") and a guitar solo -- a short one, but still. This is not the same band behind the sloppy, lurching synthesizers of "Crap Kraft Dinner."

Fans of Hot Chip's cheekiness won't be completely disappointed -- the title track finds Taylor and Goddard seductively murmuring sweet nothings like, "Hot Chip will break your legs/And snap off your head," right before a bridge littered with squelching keys straight outta 1983. But it's a pleasure to hear them finally learning to balance their snarky sense of humor with genuinely pretty slow numbers like "Look After Me" and darker, more atmospheric tunes like "No Fit State," which is what the last New Order album should have sounded like. Highly recommended. - Andy Hermann

Keeping their hot streak of spotting quality artists when they hear them, the good folks at DFA welcomed to their already diverse and talented roster Hot Chip. The "Over and Over" teaser single featured the band in rocking fashion, complete with DFA signature production and a chorus courtesy of Alexis Taylor that sounds hauntingly similar to something Paul McCartney would write had he been paying attention to the music of the youth in his own backyard. A definite departure and a step in the right direction over 2005's inconsistent full-length Coming on Strong, Hot Chip's creative maturity is immediately evident in the energetic opening. "Careful," which is laced with punchy, crisp hi hats and snare drums, then gives way to the dramatic "And I Was a Boy from School." They've gone beyond the quirky electro-pop into something much more focused and pop friendly (especially with the band's tight vocal harmonies). The title track has production that wouldn't be out of place on I Am Robot and Proud's last few records, or Postal Service outtakes. But like these artists, Hot Chip focuses more on song arrangements and structure rather than technology and programming showmanship. It sums up the core of what made The Warning so accessible and enjoyable right from the onset: it's like listening to early New Order records for the first time, waiting for the next one with a little bit of excited anticipation to see what's going to happen next with every new song. ~ Rob Theakston, All Music Guide