YAB Review: Hot Chip, 'Made In The Dark'

Today’s Youth Advisory Board post comes from Michael Hayball who continues our recent dabbling in youth-targeted music coverage with his review of the latest from electro pop band Hot Chip. Big on mtvU, the college radio scene and staples on hipper-than-thou indie site Pitchfork Media, their new album Made In The Dark didn’t really do it for Michael. I’ll let him explain. Remember you can contact our board directly via email at youthadvisoryboard at ypulse.com.

YAB Review: Hot Chip, ‘Made In The Dark’

The first song I ever heard by electro pop band Hot Chip was “Over and Over” from The Warning, their second album. It was an eclectic song that featured wind chimes and a maraca. I heard it when I received a Zune for Christmas in ‘06; the video was preloaded. So when I was offered a chance to review Hot Chip’s newest album, Made In The Dark, I was looking forward to more of that song’s neat-o use of similar percussion instruments. In this regard, I was not disappointed.

The songs, to their credit, do have very cool uses of various drums, which Hot Chip is known for. There are a lot of instruments on the album that you don’t hear very often. It feels like the band went to a Foley artist and took all the interesting props, played with them, and used the results with their vocals.

My main complaint about this cd is that the songs themselves don’t meet the standards set by “Over and Over.” They’re neither as fun or funky as that song. Most of the songs are gloomy and talk about love, which is radically different from what I thought I would hear from them.

There was one song, however, that I loved on this album. It was about wrestling, surprisingly, and it was a pretty funny song. I thought that it was out of place with the rest of the record, but the way they describe the wrestlers was very entertaining.

Overall, this is an ok album. I thought that the band should have stuck with the same style that they had on their previous single. This could win over some new fans, but if you are expecting to hear what I was (the upbeat song that was on my Zune,) you will be disappointed

About Michael
Michael lives a simple life in Allen Park, Mi. When he is not attending Henry Ford Community College for his Associates, he can be seen chatting and socializing around campus and the local coffeeshop. He enjoys a good iced caramel cappuccino, or a regular coca-cola. Michael loves what he calls “The Blog Music,” and he was and still is raised on a steady diet of electronic music and old-school hip hop. Michael hopes to work for Spin magazine one day, and screams like a little girl every time a new issue comes to the local coffee shop.