Hot Chip Listener’s Log
Day 1: Oh man, this is terrible. Do I really like these guys? Ugh, chipmunk diva? Are we really still doing that? I didn’t even like that effect five years ago when it was fashionable. I always thought Made in the Dark was overrated. Maybe I need to listen to that one again.
Day 2: Well, Made in the Dark still sounds pretty good. I guess I’ll give One Life Stand another chance. I mean, it’s not like it’s all terrible. “Thieves in the Night” is fairly rad and I guess the title track is pretty good too. But I don’t know…
Day 5: “My friend once told me something so right, he said to be careful of thieves in the ni-ight, woa-oah.” “Nothing is wasted and life is worth living, heaven is nowhere just look to the stars.” Man I LOVE THIS SHIT!
Day 6: Okay, I’m over it.
Well, like most Hot Chip albums, this one started out as some of the most asinine bull I’ve ever heard before somehow weaseling its way into my heart. Coming on Strong never quite made it over the hump, but The Warning and Made in the Dark had significantly less hearty scoffs and guffaws to cut through. There was an unprecedented jump in both style and appeal between Hot Chip’s first two records. As far as logic is concerned, their latest would have made a lot more sense as the follow up to their debut. It’s not just that The Warning and Made in the Dark are better albums, they also differ significantly in style from the group's other two albums. As IYS reported last year, in Hot Chip’s own words, "we're stepping things down a bit because we want to make this next album quite simple, gentle, focused." In this case, it’s not a decision I am a fan of, but it's one I can respect. It’s not unlike Animal Collective’s shift between Strawberry Jam and Merriwether Post Pavillion or Band of Horses’ more focused Cease to Begin following their brilliantly boisterous Everything All the Time. Putting all your eggs in one basket can certainly pay off, as for it did for those two groups, but sometimes you just wind up with egg on your face.
This album strikes me more in the way that the Beastie Boys’ puzzling instrumental album, The Mix-Up did. I don’t know who leveled this challenge, but the Boys apparently felt the need to defend the fact that they do, in fact, know how to play instruments. And it’s not that I don’t buy Hot Chip as soulful, but that’s just one of the elements that makes these guys so wonderful. I’m pretty sure nobody was thinking, “yeah, these guys are great, but I wonder what they’d sound like without all of that glorious dance music in the way.” But then again, the Beastie Boys won a Grammy for their answer to the question nobody asked, so what do I know?
Maybe it’s a little more like Wilco deciding to only appeal to the forty plus crowd. I’m not saying I don’t like any of their Sky Blue Sky or Wilco (The Album) songs, they’re just tragically unambitious. One Life Stand seems to fall into the now-typical second half slump that plagued their last two albums. “Slush” and “Alley Cats” aren’t bad songs, they’re just fairly typical pop songs, especially with obvious lines like “now that we’re older, there’s more that we must do” and “there is no pain I haven’t felt.” Taylor and Goddard’s voices still blend as beautifully as ever, and the vocal arpeggio of “Slush” is awkwardly endearing in true Hot Chip fashion, but there’s not much more to it than that. It’s a step up from the now laughably sparse Coming on Strong, but I’ve come to expect soulful dance ballads. Without the dance, it’s just not that interesting.
If you were especially fond of “In the Privacy of Our Love” and “Whistle for Will,” then you’ll likely love this album, but for me the highlights are almost exclusively in the first four tracks. If anything, the album is overly earnest without being nearly as grin inducing as tracks like “Arrest Yourself” and “Wrestlers.” Even stupid lines like “I’m only going to heaven if it tastes like caramel” seem to land better when delivered awash with tasty beats. I can already tell this is one of those issues I’m going to be relatively alone on, but sometimes one just has to take a stand. Also, End of the Night would have been a much better album title.
Track List:
1. Thieves in the Night (6:09)
2. Hand Me Down Your Love (4:33)
3. I Feel Better (4:41)
4. One Life Stand (5:24)
5. Brothers (4:21)
6. Slush (6:29)
7. Alley Cats (5:21)
8. We Have Love (4:28)
9. Keep Quiet (4:02)
10. Take it In (4:10)
