Customer Reviews

Warning

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I won't bother with highbrow recitals. Let me just say that this album and this band will rock you and keep you adictively coming back for more. It's rare to find such a well-rounded, well-balanced release--not a single track is lacking and each one has something strong to offer. I've played it for several friends and not one can stop listening. You'll feel the fool if you don't hop on the Hot Chip waggon. This band is going places. Also check out their first album--it's extremely satisfying as well.

apart from a few tracks on this album (my rommate owns it so therefore I have heard smatterings from it), but I can say that 'Over and Over' is worth the price of admission on its own. I never thought that six minutes of 4/4 time, a few adroitly placed guitar lines, thumping bass and whining keyboards could be so damn catchy, but I was wrong. I'm a man, I can admit when I'm wrong. 'Over and Over' is the newest entry into my top 25 of all time list.

A few other songs from this album catch me as well, but I don't know what they're called. Suffice to say that this album is way better than their debut.

On their second album, Hot Chip has continued to play with what makes them interesting. Stark electronic blips sit next to accessable melodic arrangments, and the marriage works even better this time around.

The tracks overall, bounce off each other to create a complete record experience. A song like Boy From School is a retro-flavored pop masterpiece, sounding like a cousin of OMD or New Order, you'll be singing along from the very first listen. Other tracks are far more difficult but no-less rewarding. The Warning, is great because it plays with the idea of musical catagories and the stigmas that go with them. The idea of geeky keyboard fans being violent and tough is funny, and that's the gist of the tune. Then there is the single which has garnered the most attention for the band, and its a dandy. Over and Over, has an insane, yet catchy hook, and really great lyrics to boot! Anyone that I've ever played this for has fallen in love with it, its just one of those songs that anyone can get into, and instantly like.

While the rest of the record doesn't quite leap the lead singles' lofty bar, it does a really great job of complementing the different styles and vibes, that without skill, could get very chaotic to the listener. If you are a fan of electronic music, and like a bit of experimentaton mixed with your straight forward pop, you won't find a better blend of a unique, and fun songs on any one record this year.

the harmonies that go on here are what really propel this album. Electronics are wondrful too, but it's the vocal play that keeps this album out of generic electro, and pushes into it's own category. One of the few albums that's both immediately infectuous, yet has long lasting appeal. Which is altogether too rare these days. Well worth the purchase.

This album is so much fun! For a first album, it really is quite good. It has interesting beats, avariety of songs, and catchy tunes. To me, it's a mix of Thom Yorke's beats with a little Postal Service mixed in. See what you think!

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 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.

The homemade, do-it-yourself charm of their previous album, "Coming on Strong", is gone from Hot Chip's new effort "The Warning". Luckily, none of the warmth, playfulness, humor or sensitivity is. If anything, being on a major label seems to work well for Hot Chip. The beats are tighter and leaner, and they blend much more seamlessly with the vocals. The occasionally experimental production may sometimes recall artists like Aphex Twin, but the songs themselves are pure pop; smooth, catchy, and easy to digest.

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!