CD review: One Life Stand - Hot Chip

STILL HOT: Hot Chip's One Life Stand is an infectious and melodious indie pop album.

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British combo Hot Chip have carved out a comfortable niche in the past 11 years, combining synth pop, dance, indie rock and folk into a distinctive sound that has made it stand out from a lot of other bands attempting the same thing.

The infectious Over and Over from 2005 remains its only true break-out single, but it hasn't lost its ear for melody and sharp pop hooks on One Life Stand. In fact, while some have complained that the band's latest release is languid compared with its early output, I had the opposite reaction.

This is one of the most infectious and melodious indie pop albums I've heard in ages.

Singers Alexis Taylor and Joe Goddard continue to be half the reason to love Hot Chip. The latter's falsetto is almost angelic in places (opener Thieves in the Night) and a perfect contrast to Goddard's gruff but endearing moments. And the album delivers.

The first four songs could equally hold themselves as singles – Thieves in the Night, Hand Me Down Your Love, with its late-period Talking Heads' touches, I Feel Better (reminiscent, with its synth flourishes and auto tune effects, of Roskopp) and the title track, enlivened by touches of steel-pan drums. Either dancing or lying flat on your back, they are hard to resist.

Elsewhere, Hot Chip get a little darker. Brothers could have come off one of Brian Eno's pop releases, right down to Goddard's voice – and when Taylor joins in, it sends a shiver down the spine.

The same goes for Slush. But at every step, there's a warmth and intimacy that's missing from other recent bands resting on synths. We Have Love is the only real out-and-out dance number, but is one of its weaker moments.

Forgivable, though, when much of One Life Stand is so right.

* What do you think of One Life Stand? Post your comments below.

- © Fairfax NZ News

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