Sound Off | New Hot Chip album falls short of past work

Something happened to Hot Chip on their last record, Made In The Dark. Their breakout record, The Warning, struck that perfect balance between dance and pop where the beats don't overpower the hooks and vice versa. But in Made In The Dark, the balance was noticeably slanted towards pop. Not that this was a bad thing—I'd say that Made In The Dark is the superior record—but it's hard not to cock your head a little bit when a band known for jaunty, analog keyboards decides to start making Beatlesesque piano ballads. Luckily for Hot Chip, this shift suited their band dynamic quite well. Unlike most electro-pop projects, Hot Chip is actually a band—with five members who can play every sound on the record and can put on a good live show. In addition, primary vocalist Alexis Taylor has the kind of soft, soulful voice that could only come from a British schoolboy. It seemed as if Hot Chip had been prime for this shift all along; they were only waiting to mature as musicians.

On their new record, One Life Stand, Hot Chip has decided to take this progression even further. Though there are plenty of taut drum machine beats, there are just as many mellow, slow building tracks. And for every screechy, squealy piece of electronic noise, there's a piano, rhodes organ or a violin to match up. As with Made In The Dark, One Life Stand seems to fit Hot Chip's strength's perfectly; I've always had the suspicion that there's more of a Brit-pop influence in these guys than they'd probably like to admit. But unlike Made In The Dark, One Life Stand seems to take this progression too far, and honestly, it lags under the weight of the heavy, heartfelt songs they've decided to start writing. There's a reason why everyone hates Coldpay; it's because all that sap and shameless pop bravado gets annoying after a while. And without enough dance-y energy, Hot Chip has started to slide down that slippery slope themselves.

To be fair, there's plenty to like on One Life Stand. This is the fourth record in a row that Hot Chip has released with at least a sampling of superlative songs. I don't know what it is about these guys, but they always come through with an ideal synth line or a refrain that can be repeated ad nauseam without getting old. Opener "Thieves In The Night," with its slowly building layers of synth and its unforgettable vocal hook, captures that classic mix of danceability and listenability that Hot Chip does so well. The second track, "Hand Me Down Your Love," might be the album's true standout. The verse features a beautifully rhythmic piano progression, while the chorus blooms into a heart-wrenching, violin-laden symphony of Brit-pop glory.

This happy medium doesn't last long. Too often on the record, songs slip into the territory of the boring and the unnecessarily melancholy. "Slush," which goes on about three minutes longer than it should, has a waltz-like beat and a sound that matches its unflattering name. Closing track "Take It In," despite its joyous, choir-worthy refrain, seems to go far too close to Coldplay's style of heavily slathered saccharine.

Considering this dichotomy between electro-pop glory and slow burning mush, you would think that something on One Life Stand would have to tip the record in one direction or the other. And that something is the lyrics. Taylor and his deeper-voiced counterpart Joe Goddard aren't the world's best lyricists, but they have been known to be witty and surprising from time to time. On One Life Stand, however, they're content to simply say "love" a hundred times and call it a day. From "Brothers:" "It's a wild love I have/ It's a wild love that I have." Or this from "Slush:" "With songs to remember/ remember my love is with you." And lets not even talk about "Hand Me Down Your Love," which—despite its near perfection—is mostly comprised of the phrases "Hand me down your love" and "Open up your love" repeating until the song ends. Don't get me wrong, sentimentality is not a bad thing, especially for this type of pop music. But One Life Stand is completely void of creativity when it comes to the lyrics. Even the album's title is a little cheesy, even if it is a clever pun (and trust me, I normally love puns).

For a band like Hot Chip, who is usually supernaturally consistent, one mediocre record isn't the end of the world. And for anyone out there who's interested in the band, I'd highly recommend Made In The Dark as a good starting point. But on One Life Stand, Hot Chip has fallen slightly off the track.

—Martin Bergman '12 is a Jewish studies major writing a bi-weekly column on recently released albums.