Album: The Warning
Artist: Hot Chip
Born: Putney, London
Released: May 2006
Genre: Electropop
South London has been a conveyor belt of musical talent over the past decade. Much of the focus has been on the Brit School for Performing Arts in Croydon, which has churned out the likes of Amy Winehouse, Kate Nash, Leona Lewis and Adele, but it's the Elliott comprehensive school in Putney that's been a surprising hotbed of talent. Alexis Taylor and Joe Goddard, the core duo at the heart of Hot Chip, are its most famous alumni, while dubstep pioneer Burial (aka William Bevan) and remix specialist Four Tet (aka Kieran Hebden) have also graced its corridors. Who knows why exactly so many talents coalesced around one school, but what marks them all out is originality. When I first heard Hot Chip's debut LP, Coming On Strong (2004), I wasn't sure what to make of their music; their indebtedness to Prince was borderline pastiche, almost reminiscent of Goldie Lookin' Chain doing gangsta rap. There were moments on that record that were just sublime though, notably Keep Fallin', thanks to those basic Casio beats and Taylor's wonderful falsetto singing quirky lyrics. By the time of the release of The Warning, their sound has lost that "made in the bedroom" aesthetic, but the self-consciously nerdy style of songwriting remained. Some music writers have criticised Hot Chip for this, which accounts for their change of style on 2010 LP, One Life Stand, where the tone is far more sincere and the songs are less haphazardly strung together. Personally, I prefer their more musically expansive early records when the focus was on monkeys with miniature cymbals.
South London has been a conveyor belt of musical talent over the past decade. Much of the focus has been on the Brit School for Performing Arts in Croydon, which has churned out the likes of Amy Winehouse, Kate Nash, Leona Lewis and Adele, but it's the Elliott comprehensive school in Putney that's been a surprising hotbed of talent. Alexis Taylor and Joe Goddard, the core duo at the heart of Hot Chip, are its most famous alumni, while dubstep pioneer Burial (aka William Bevan) and remix specialist Four Tet (aka Kieran Hebden) have also graced its corridors. Who knows why exactly so many talents coalesced around one school, but what marks them all out is originality. When I first heard Hot Chip's debut LP, Coming On Strong (2004), I wasn't sure what to make of their music; their indebtedness to Prince was borderline pastiche, almost reminiscent of Goldie Lookin' Chain doing gangsta rap. There were moments on that record that were just sublime though, notably Keep Fallin', thanks to those basic Casio beats and Taylor's wonderful falsetto singing quirky lyrics. By the time of the release of The Warning, their sound has lost that "made in the bedroom" aesthetic, but the self-consciously nerdy style of songwriting remained. Some music writers have criticised Hot Chip for this, which accounts for their change of style on 2010 LP, One Life Stand, where the tone is far more sincere and the songs are less haphazardly strung together. Personally, I prefer their more musically expansive early records when the focus was on monkeys with miniature cymbals.
Boy From School is one of two Top 40 singles released from the album, along with Over and Over, and its mix of house music and atmospheric synths is balanced perfectly with sad refrains ("We try but we don't belong"). Sometimes Hot Chip can get a bit lost between producing great beats and writing pop ballads, but on title track The Warning everything clicks. There's almost a prog-like feel to the way the song shifts between different parts, as if it were an epic 70s mini-suite. I love the opening, and again the song builds a strong contrast, this time between the sweet-sounding instruments (glockenspiels) and the comically violent lyrics. As well as the funky dancefloor mania of Over and Over, other highlights are the Human League-inspired synthpop of No Fit State and the crisp beats of (Just Like We) Breakdown. The latter is reminiscent of New Order, mixing the sounds of clubland with heavy synths and a strong pop sensibility. Both Taylor and Goddard are now well-known DJs and I often see them on the bill at festivals doing the late-night slot. Goddard has been especially successful in this respect, with his dance duo 2 Bears putting out some great music (check out Bear Hug). Taylor has been even more prolific and he's particularly getting a reputation for his production work, notably on the latest James Yorkston record, C/R/A/W/S (2014). Not bad for two lads from South London.
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