Warning

Hot Chip is a quirky UK band that reminds me of Aqueduct here in the US. After self-releasing some early EPs, the band issued its debut album "Coming On Strong" in 2004 (released last year in the US), the band returns with its follow-up."The Warning" (11 tracks, plus 1 "hidden" track, 52 min.) starts off tentatively with a somewhat chaotic "Careful", but then dives straight into one irresitable track after another: "Boy From School" (1st UK single) is a funky-ish joyful singalong, "Colours" (2nd UK single), and "Over and Over" (3rd UK single), which reminds me of the playfull Beck sound on "Guero". "(Just Like We) Breakdown" continues that theme, but in the second half of the album, the band turns much more introspective, with tracks like "Look After Me", the title track, and "So Glad To See You". The (untitled) hidden track is another (short) pensive song, quite nice. The album is extremely well sequenced, and before you know it, you find yourself hitting the replay button. In all, a great album.If you are wondering where I found out about this band, take a listen to WOXY "The Future of Rock and Roll", formely a terrestrial radio station and now an internet-only station. WOXY has been bringing cutting edge indie-rock for more than 20 years. Check them out, and check out Hot Chip, you won't be disappointed!

Buenaaaaaaás

I bought this CD after stumbling across Hot Chip's other album 'Coming On Strong'. I really liked that one, but 'The Warning' just doesn't flow as well. Hot Chip's style of music is like a balancing act between chaos and creativity and will appeal to different people in different ways. Love it or hate it...at least it's something unique and different.

Fledgling UK electropop band Hot Chip have found greater success with their second album, "The Warning," but thankfully have not sold their souls to do so.This sophomore album is simply exploding with experiments and ideas, so much so that an otherwise amazing album gets a little drippy around the edges. Give them a few more years, and Hot Chip will be blowing our minds with the bravest, wildest electronica. For the moment, they're still trying their wings.It opens with the retro drones of "Careful," right before the song suddenly settles into a more expansive little groove. It sounds torn between retro synth and the artier edges that they are so, so good at. They stabilize their sound somewhat in "And I Was A Boy From School," with its steady beats and catchy little melody.From there on, Hot Chip experiments with just about any sound that electropop can include -- airy little ballads, hip-hoppish dance music, delicate beats like something from Telepopmusik, grimy robot rock, twinkly little art tunes, and some Kraftwerk-inspired techno. In other words, they will twist those amazing art beats into... anything, really.Not many bands can do EVERY kind of music with more or less successful results, but Hot Chip is pretty good at all kinds of music. The only problem is that they seem to be a bit torn between the popular retro sound, and the more out-there art sounds. In songs like "Careful," it feels awkward and unbalanced.But once they work the kinks out of that, Hot Chip will probably have few musical flaws at all. They have a knack for putting the right beats in the right places, and excel at deceptively simple melodies that never stop being catchy -- even the quieter ones can draw you in and make you mumble the words.They also know just how much to pack into a single song: the beats are heavy and rough, or delicate and crystalline. Glimmering synths, spurts of bass, funky melodies, buzzes, horns, sonic squiggling, and other sounds spice up the music. Plenty of artier moments, without losing that catchy dancey beat.Alexis Taylor sounds a bit like Benjamin Gibbard, with his mellow vocals and somewhat downbeat attitude. At first he seems almost nebulous on his own album, but he stands out more and more as you listen to him murmur about balloons, colours, and "Look after me and i will look after you/that's something we both forgot to do...."Since they have been nominated for a Mercury Award, expect Hot Chip to be more prominent than before, and hopefully they'll have plenty of time to get even better than they already are.

On the second album from the young UK band Hot Chip, it sounds like they're still working some kinks out in a few places. In large part, the group locks into a batch of electronic pop tracks that delightfully throwback to the 80s with a nod forward, but there are a couple places on The Warning where it sounds like they're simply trying a bit too hard to mix things up, and the drastic changes break the flow of the otherwise smooth disc. Opening track "Careful" teeters delightfully on the edge between the two halves of their sound, balancing some nice vocal harmonies and a pretty group chorus on top of choppy breakbeat programming and somewhat dissonant synth stabs that threaten to derail the whole thing. Fortunately, they never do, and on the following track the group kicks out one of the best singles of the year. "And I Was A Boy From School" floats some breathy vocals over dizzying, relentless synth arpeggios and beat programming that just keeps pushing forward until the sparkling finale. The Warning is by no means a one-song wonder, either, as the group drops the hyper-dancy, handclap-laced "Over And Over" about a third of the way into the disc and both musically and lyrically seem to embrace the fun of mindless euro-pop. Another gem is the album-titled "The Warning," which juxtaposes some pretty chime melodies and lush but subtle programming with somewhat aggressive lyrics that you can't help but want to sing along with. As mentioned before, it seems like in a few places the group seems to just toss in random tracks that don't really work. "Tchaparian" is all buzzy synths and choppy beats that feel completely out of place, while "Arrest Yourself" features over-the-top filtered vocals, horn synths, and clanky beats that stick out on the otherwise slick album. With twelve songs running fifty-three minutes and a few things that feel out of place, this follow-up from Hot Chip probably could have used a smidgen of trimming. Regardless, though, it's still a highly entertaining album, and perfect for blasting during hot summer days.(from almost cool music reviews)

I love this album and at less that £2 it was a steal.Also it was delivered quickly too!

Excellent

Good album

I really like their most popular tracks.

Not a bad album a little too chilled out for me