This is a warning – Hot Chip will break your legs!
A few weeks ago, I had this very strong idea I was working as a top level operative in a complicated limb factory. My specific job was to move the limbs from one area of the warehouse to another by means of a series of intricate and highly sensitive pulleys.
It was a tricky proposition, and it was just as I was feeling I’d got the principles of the job down to a fine art, that I awoke and realised I wasn’t in a factory at all, but was in fact in bed, trying to sleep through a bewildering and all together rather frightening stomach bug fever…..
Now to be perfectly honest, I was initially a little disappointed by this realisation. Indeed, not only did I feel like warmed up shit for the rest of the week, but despite it’s complexity and apparent idiocy, I was really rather enjoying the pulley work, and felt it possible I had a bright future in the world of limb transportation….
My disappointment was however quickly overridden, when later that same morning, I stumbled through the fog of swirling bad sensations and farting onto E4s early morning music program, where I found Hot Chip and their splendid new album The Warning.
Now, one naughty download, and more than a straight and healthy month later, during which time I’ve played The Warning countless times in countless different mental states, I can honestly and certainly say that unlike the limb factory, The Warning isn’t any kind of dream or delusion – it’s a complete fucking gem!
So what’s the big idea??
Well the first great thing about The Warning is that though originality is a nonsense of the puritan, and we all know everything’s been done 10 times before, it’s still possible for one band in every 2000 to weave a web of influences into something pretty unique and this is exactly what Hot Chip have done.
I mean, sure, this record has hints of John Foxx, Ultravox, Kraftwerk, Gary Numan, Aphex Twin, Brian Eno - perhaps even a little Air or Suicide, but no one track on The Warning sounds like any of the above in it’s entirety. Indeed The Warning sounds so fresh and new, it’s closer to the invention of water than the latest washing powder.
Yes, Hot Chip are that rarest of bands – one that achieves crisp and fresh newness without becoming so obscure and contrived that one needs an interest in the noises of a broken and rusting pumping station and several high jazz friends to be able to get it.
Tracks like Colours, Boy From School and Warning are tight, catchy, light and bright. They’re warm and natural and are - unlike so much electronic music - very, very human.
HC also do a cracking and catchy chorus – So catchy in fact, I often find myself singing them joyously as if they mean something, even though I’m far form sure they all do….
Which brings us to the question of lyrics…
Broadly speaking, the lyrics on this LP can be split into 2 camps: There are those that are clear as bells and make perfect sense and those that give a very good sense of something just out of reach of the conscious mind – Things and feelings and images that make you smile, think and wonder what the fuck the song is all about….
For example: “I tried doing my best to regulate you at the risk of absurdity – There’s nothing less between us than a state of emergency” (Arrest Yourself) would be a fine example of the former. Then you’ve got “Over and over and over and over, like a monkey with a miniature cymbal” (or is it symbol???) I mean, what the fuck does that mean? Is it poetry? Is it nonsense? Quite frankly, I don’t care – The fact is it works.
On top of this, HC have that rarest of commodities in a band - A sense of humour that gets out of the tour bus, onto the lyric sheet and into the performance and lyrics in one piece. There’s a sense of the absurd and a sense of fun, alongside some heart and soul and this is all very excellent to see.
So, exactly how have these wonderful young men managed this grand and special mix and just how far can they go with it?
Well, a big part of the winning brew would seem to be that Hot Chip play electronic instruments like a regular band play guitars, bass and drums - I.e. without over reliance on sequencers, computers, or any other technology that makes the live and recorded performance and general structure of most electronic music sound so mechanical, stiff and arranged.
This is no mean feat, indeed, in the space of just two homemade albums, Hot Chip have apparently succeeded where so many others have failed – They’ve thrown the old format of ‘the band’ (guitar, bass, drums, singer) to the wall and frankly, good Paul McCartney riddance to it…
For me though, the best thing here is that this record is pure and proper quality pop music. It’s not Shane Ward contrived dull pop or nothing better available at the time pop, but pop in the way Jimi Hendrix was pop. Pop like Kraftwerks, The Model. Pop like The KLFs, 3am Eternal - Classic, quality vivacious pop, with some kind of meaning and depth that suggests longevity, as well as that essential short-term beauty.
So,.., Good melodies, originality, redefinition of the band, complete lack of guitar lad wank nonsense, poptastic genius, fine lyrics and good clean fun all round….
 | Currently listening : The Warning By Hot Chip Release date: By 13 June, 2006  |
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