Hot Chip - Made In the Dark

See kids, Hot Chip...Hot Chip is fun. This is a band I could dance to at a dance club. Of course, I wouldn't pigeonhole them as a pure dance band, per se, but their music is very dance-able. They're upbeat. They're rhythmic. They're genre-bending. Now I wouldn't call them Animal Collective, and I also wouldn't call this album Merriweather Post Pavilion. That would be blasphemous (snicker). No, I think Made In the Dark is a break-free from the mold, and a major step in the right direction for the dance/trance genre as a whole. Let me rephrase that -- I think HOT CHIP is a break-free from the mold band. This record is, well it sounds like a lot of experimentation is going on. But the stuff that does wind up sticking to the wall really, really works and it makes for a great experience.

Made In the Dark begins as an exercise. "Out at the Pictures" churns to a start and already we're feeling some pretty hefty rhythms. It's a tad repetitious, but hey, it's the lead-in track. You gotta' have some kind of foundation to build off of. And once "Shake a Fist" starts rolling along, that's when the surprises start rolling in. It's then that this becomes much more than just a simple dance record, and then hearing it becomes as enjoyable a ride as they must have had creating it. This kind of shared experience -- a sort of kinship with the audience -- is really fun to listen to and be a part of. I kind of wish they would've built the whole record like "Shake a Fist", but that probably would've diminished its effectiveness. Just as so many great moments on so many albums go, their fleeting nature only lends to their charm. Any more and it would take away from the moment's power.

Not that the rest of the album doesn't hold some power of its own. But the strength in the tracks to follow is really their togetherness and variety. Tracks like "We're Looking For a Lot of Love" and "Made in the Dark" are refreshingly cool songs, but they probably wouldn't stand on their own without the supporting upbeat tracks like "Bendable Poseable" and "Touch Too Much". Together, they work wonderfully to form a sort of yin and yang vibe throughout the middle bridge of the record. This kind of hot and cold continues, but more so within each individual track. "Don't Dance" is a great example, with its drop-outs and breakdowns in front of and behind pumping dance licks. "Wrestlers" shows off a bit of lyrical flare in this regard as well.

"Whistle For Will" and "In the Privacy of Our Love" round out the record, and leave us on a bit of a slow note. Yet even in this sort of mellow state, they still manage to slip in grooves that can get your head bobbing a little. They have this effect throughout most of the record, and some of the rhythms and grooves can be downright infectious. It's obvious that they're diving into a lot of different pools as well, with an almost tribal vibe on "One Pure Thought".

Yeah, they're toying. It's pretty obvious that they haven't got much to say from the onset though. But then that's not the point either. The point, I think, is to present us with a record that is listenable, enjoyable, and fun. Some of the fun they're having is pretty freakin' great, too. Some of the strongest moments on the record are where they're just plinking around on a piano, or dizzying up a squarewave, just for the hell of it. And that's all this kind of music really needs. It's one thing to be particular about instruments or sounds when you're orchestrating a symphony. It's another thing to worry about the particulars of losing your mind on the dance floor.