Hot Chip is clearly made up of geeky music obsessives, each far-reaching in his musical ideas -- the London band is like the Pet Shop Boys of electronica. A quirky, intelligent collection of songs, Hot Chip's new album The Warning owes as much to Prince and Aphex Twin as it does to The Beach Boys, New Order and Beck.
The Hot Chip experience includes ballads exploring the innocence and romanticism of youth -- and on which singer Alexis Taylor sounds like a young Paul McCartney. Then there are wickedly funky, techno-driven tracks like "Over and Over," which brandishes distorted guitars and an infectious, multi-percussive, synthesized lockstep groove.
"Like a monkey with a miniature cymbal / the joy of repetition really is in you," Taylor sings, in the process recalling the repetitive bliss of Kraftwerk's "Autobahn" and Afrika Bambaataa's "Looking for the Perfect Beat." Hot Chip pulls off a wily mix of musical styles on The Warning, and the perfect beats of "Over and Over" help the group find a dance-floor utopia along the way.
Listen to yesterday's 'Song of the Day.'
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