Heave Media

Erratic Energy Courtesy of Hot Chip

Two sounds collide with no middle ground on <i>Made in the Dark</i>.

Hot Chip

Made in the Dark

Released on Nov 30, -0001

Hot Chip's latest block of tracks has the texture of a robust summer salsa. Made in the Dark is made up of mild, wavy songs that make use of a watered-down, soft electronic backdrop to keep your interest between what you're really there for: chunky, rhythmic, rapid dance tracks with all the zest and spice you'd expect from a British electro-pop group. Like Chip's last record, there's more eccentricity here than experimentation, and it's the erratic energy that's most appealing.

The single, "Ready For The Floor," is a formulaic, if satisfying song that relies on mechanical, steady guitar loops and plenty of percussion to manufacture a great sound. It forms a pretty good foundation, alternating listy lines with a chorus that evokes '80s synth with harmless lines like "I'm hoping the chance / you might take this dance." "Hold On" makes similarly good use of repetition (over six minutes, no less), but doesn't have a discernible phrase or chorus to unite things. The same can be said of "Touch Too Much," which merges a bassy organ melody with layers of drums, but lacks a vocal or instrumental riff to discern the parts from the whole.

These are still great tracks - ones any fan of RJD2 or LCD Soundsystem would be pretty pleased to have. Unfortunately, the softer, ponderous songs contrast poorly with Made in the Dark's bouncy beats, making them more of a distraction than refreshing slow jams. "Made In The Dark," "We're Looking For A Lot Of Love" and the closing track, "In The Privacy Of Our Love" each feel like strange, simple, wavy contradictions to Chip's otherwise complex, dynamic and expressive dance tunes. There's nothing wrong with variation - we only mean that anyone pumped for the latter isn't necessarily going to find the former of interest.

What's missing is a proper middle ground to bridge the two sounds. If anything, that description fits "Wrestlers" - a playful blend of beepy electronic sounds and Alexis Taylor's hip-hop tinted delivery. When Taylor hums, "Here we come drop kick, half nelson, full nelson, Willie Nelson" you wonder if the tune wouldn't made a good song to jump rope to. It's a shame there isn't more of this youthful, punchy approach on the rest of the record because Hot Chip pulls it off well.

Poppy and imprecise, Made in the Dark is a package of dense, digital beats that unfortunately don't fit in well alongside Hot Chip's slower, loungier songs. The record as a whole plays pretty unevenly - alternating between either set of sounds doesn't allow it to build momentum. Taylor's vocals keep things feeling airy and add some well-executed femininity to the record, but book ending the beat-laden tracks with soft, pseudo love songs demotes the disc a bit.

Posted by Evan Lahti on Feb 12, 2008 @ 12:00 am