Hot Chip

Alexis Taylor and Joe Goddard are the brains behind Hot Chip. Having been friends since their school years, the falsetto-powered Taylor and the deep brooding bass of Goddard have given the London five-piece one of the more trademark band sounds in recent years. The duo's first release was in 2000 on the Victory Garden Records label; the Mexico EP has a much different alt. rock sound to later releases, with the more prominent use of guitars, with the six-and-a-half minute instrumental closer Mersion/Version being incredibly related to the sound of Blur's self-titled, although the EP itself has some electronic input. Follow-up 2002 EP, the 50-only CD-R Sanfrandisco E-Pee, bridged the gap between the debut and the pair's first release on the ever-excellent Moshi Moshi Records, the Down With Prince EP in 2003. This EP showcased some examples of the twosome's contrasting vocal styles and tunes that would form their debut album, the Neo Soul Coming On Strong, released in May 2004 as a limited 500-only 8 track LP version and the standard CD version containing 11 tracks. This album has more of a hip-hop feel than later full-lengths, with the only single to be released from the album being the faux-gangsta rap Playboy, which hit #102 in the UK charts. During this album, the duo had formally expanded to become a five-piece, with many thanks to Al Doyle, Felix Martin, and Owen Clarke, although Taylor and Goddard were still the mind and soul of the Hot Chip body. The group then signed to EMI, where after the 2005 release of The Barbarian EP, one of their more recognised tracks, Over and Over was released in February 2006, hitting #32 on the charts (although the October 2006 reissue increased on its original position by 5 places). The Warning, Hot Chip's major label debut, was released in June 2006, and had removed the Neo Soul aspect of their work and replaced it with more electronic tones. Aside from the reissue of Over And Over, the other two singles off the album, And I Was A Boy From School and Colours, did not succeed as well as Over And Over had done. This was set to change with the follow-up to The Warning, entitled Made In The Dark. With this album, the group found mainstream success, especially with the second pre-album single Ready For The Floor charting at #6. This was to be the only successful single from the album, with Shake A Fist being a limited 12", One Pure Thought only hitting #53, and Hold On/Touch Too Much being classified as an EP and not a single. Regardless, the album sold well, hitting #4 in the UK charts and was also certified Gold by the BPI. 2010 saw the release of the group's fourth album, One Life Stand, which, with no track being shorter than four minutes, is a move away from standard alt. dance and into more experimental territory, with the singles so far being One Life Stand and the infamous I Feel Better, infamous because of its Peter Serafinowicz-directed video. The great Nima Nourizadeh-directed video for Over and Over is below, with downloads following on.