Hot Chip: One Life Stand
Friday, 29, Jan 2010 12:46
EMI, out February 1st.
What's it all about?
Electropop is alive and well, and Hot Chip want to prove it with this fourth release following on from the well-received third album Made in the Dark, famous for the likes of One Pure Thought, Shake a Fist and the unforgettable (whether you like it or not) Ready for the Floor. Less than two years on and still riding the crest of the wave that is popularity, it's probably a given that this release will have the same level of acclaim. Well, maybe.
Who's it by?
Hot Chip, formed by core members Alexis Taylor and Joe Goddard, went by relatively unnoticed with their first album Coming on Strong, though as soon as The Warning came out, it was an awards bun fight which saw nominations for the Mercury Prize and the receipt of the gong for best single of 2006 with Over and Over, courtesy of NME. To be fair, it was a cracking effort and the music video was even better.
They're even better live, when they go so far off the beaten track with their own songs that you get a different performance each time. If you're a fan, they just keep on giving.
As an example...
"I only wanna be your one life stand (keep on feeling)/Tell me do you stand by your whole man." - One Life Stand
What the others say
"As for now, at least, they seem a little less like gods and more like mortal men whose synths don't always have all the answers." - BBC
"Heart/sleeve interface may be at record highs on this album, but only a cast-iron cynic would turn their noses up when the treats on offer are so lovingly prepared." - Drowned in Sound
So is it any good?
This band have always been more about the singles than the album, though that's not to say that they're not accomplished at producing a solid release. Still, for One Life Stand - the album, not the single - it seems more about One Life Stand - the single, not the album - and a couple of other great tunes, with the rest on the cusp of being great, fine or just filler.
It's simply wrong to deny them due credit deserved for the current single of the year with the title track. One Life Stand is the first song I've genuinely taken notice of in 2010. It's all in the thumping bass from minute one, the basic four-note dirty synth, the accompanying tinny riff, the perfect vocals, the correct balance of usually superfluous sound effects, the superb disco-style chorus or the subsequent derm-da-der der-der-der der-da-da distortion of brass instruments.
Yeah, it's pretty much everything about One Life Stand which makes it; the tune hasn't suffered from overplaying, despite the Beeb's best efforts, and Hot Chip clearly understands this by naming the album after it instead of a song they want to make an easy hit through the power of associative nomenclature alone.
On top of this, Thieves in the Night - the opening tune which seemingly takes the bass drum from The Hardest Button to Button by the White Stripes and pairs it with initially beautiful escalating vocals - is an absolutely brilliant track to kick off with.
It sounds like such a complex arrangement of layers at first but when you break it down, it's only a matter of a drum beat and three other parts, including Alexis himself. At the halfway point of the song, Hot Chip also treats you to a superb guitar addition, which fans the flames and keeps it from burning out. It's one of the most complete six-minute songs you'll hear and on a par with the Chemical Brothers to the point where it could've easily landed a place on We Are the Night.
Some songs are not quite there but will likely be improved on in a live set-up. Brothers, Alley Cat and (to a lesser extent) Slush all fall by the wayside when you expect them to hammer you with pure synth love. The love aspect's definitely there in the lyrics, but the music's too basic to really back them up. A bit of a shame, all-in-all.
Sadly, too many songs slip into the 'Could Do Much Better' tray. The infuriating We Have Love starts with sound effects straight out of a particularly antisocial child's phone at the back of the bus and while it starts to rescue itself later on, the resonating dirty synth bass puts it into pretty damning territory.
I Feel Better is very similar; while it gets into a good groove from the midpoint of the tune, you'll struggle to get past the first couple of minutes of repetition without so much as a decent drum beat to allow you to rock your head; you'll hold your breath waiting for it but you'll be blue in the face before you feel comfortable letting it go. Then you'll just feel empty.
Still, the album finishes strongly. Take It In is a great way to wind down with a slight element of misleading sadness. The vocals come straight from the soul, discordant chords fade in and out again before a belting chorus will lift even the heaviest heart. You'll feel bad for criticising them at any point during this release. Maybe it was planned, or they were targeting a wider demographic of fans. Probably not, but you'll make yourself believe it.
Get this album and find out if it's for you. I'm not going to say you'll love it or you'll get your money's worth, but it's a gamble worth taking. For four or five tracks alone, you'll be more inclined towards thinking it's worth it. There'll be more people loving this than not, that's for sure.
It also won't be their last good release either, though consistency needs to be worked on if it's going to be a true classic. One Life Stand's certainly good enough for everyone to try and buy, though.
7/10
Matt Gardner