Way back in 1982, ABC put out what is hands down the most clever, infectious, danceable, smart pop record that has ever been recorded, "Lexicon of Love". (If you have heard it, you know what I am talking about, and if you haven't, get this album now.) While the album produced two hits- "Poison Arrow" and "Look of Love"- and universal critical praise, it never took hold and earned the reputation for the classic album that it is. Hockey's "Mind Chaos" is the first album I have heard since that elicits the same feelings of warmth, joy, and appreciation.
At its basic, this is a great pop album with many danceable moments. The hooks fly at you faster than Mohammad Ali's left during the Rumble in the Jungle. If you are not humming along with at least half the songs by the end of your first listen, then you may be deaf. The music is infectious, catchy, and is brilliantly produced, bringing out the punch in the bass and the shimmy in the cymbals.
If that was all it had going for it, this would be a good album. Lucky for us, the lyrics take each song to a whole other level and curse this band with a debut that is great. Like MGMT before them, the music is firmly rooted in the past- sometimes in a reinterpretative way, sometimes as straight copy while the lyrics openly acknowledge this obvious debt in a way that verges on apologetic but are smart enough to never truly go there. The first song is titled "Too Fake", and so when that first chorus hits two minutes into the ridiculously catchy opener, this declaration of being "Too Fake" seems clever and slightly amusing. Okay, they know, you think to yourself. During "Song Away", the singer acknowledges stealing his identity and owns up to writing a song with an "80's groove", while name dropping Roxy Music. And let's be honest- by the time the 7th song rolls around and you realize that the song is titled "Wanna Be Black", and that yes, it's about wanting to be black, again, you just can't help but smile.
The only misstep is the Bob Dylan/Wallflowers sounding "Four Holy Photos", which is not even as good as Blitzen Trapper on a bad day. But other than this, this is an amazing album. Singeable, danceable, hummable, and smart enough to be lyrically analyzed- "Mind Chaos" will not disappoint.