Hot Chip

Hot Chip may look kind of funny and act the parts of clown princes, but don't let that lull you into ignoring the seriously good tunes found around the jokes. Made in the Dark reaffirms that, aside from New Order, no remotely popular band has ever unified rhythms and songs into a more striking pop package. Melodies and hooks loom around every musical corner, three-part harmonies sway through the choruses, and RnB futures share the beatscape with techno, house and disco (though album No. 3 does feature its share of ballads). Hot Chip's humor is merely a bonus.

It's tough not to admire a band that can work an affection for Ray Charles, Willie Nelson, R.
Kelly and WWF icon Jerry "the King" Lawler into a hot club track — let alone do it with
couplets like "I've got a roll of coins/I'm aiming for your loins." The best
dysfunctional-lovers jam since Joe Nichols' "Let's Get Drunk and Fight," "Wrestlers"
epitomizes what makes this quintet the sharpest dance rockers this side of their... More >