The UK masters of the fun dance jams Hot Chip returned this week with their latest release titled One Life Stand. As anyone who has heard their records before or seen their live show knows, no band really infuses a fun vibe into their music and genuinely seems to be loving what they are doing any more than these guys, and that great trend continues once again on this fine effort. The record is still brand new, so this could change, but though I’m not sure that it has the instantly recognizable surefire dance floor hits that the two previous releases had, it still continues their tradition of bringing fun music that makes everyone want to start dancing to the peeps once again. No one does it better.

“Theives In The Night” is a pretty standard good opening track that I can already tell will play well at shows, but then they get the fun going with a offbeat track “Hand Me Down Your Love”. Then they make what I’m sure will be a much talked about move into using autotune on Track 3, I think to great effect. It doesn’t take over the song, but it is sufficiently taking a poke at the use of autotune to make it funny, but it also fits into the song. This will get the crowd going undoubtedly, with probably the most klubby beats on the album.

The title track “One Life Stand” serves as a great centerpiece dance almost-ballad on the record with a standout chorus, similar to what “Ready For The Floor” was to Made In The Dark. On the second half they get a little more unconventional with some more soft and subtle balladier songs “Brothers” and “Alley Cats”. “We Have Love” and “Keep Quiet” are both wonderfully different and offbeat songs, especially “Keep Quiet”, with some bizarre chords and keys in there but with that slow endless build that sometimes makes a good Hot Chip song. They finish it off with “Take It In”, which is a great track and a great closer.

These guys know how to take what sometimes can be love/hate electronic elements and put them all together with such a fun, dance crazed vibe that everyone can’t help but love it. Once again they have hit that dead on with such great tracks as “One Life Stand”, “Hand Me Down Your Love” and “Thieves In The Night”. I think it maybe is a more subdued record than the previous efforts and doesn’t so far have those great standout tracks that we know them for, but that could just be timing, as some of their more unassuming songs initially can take on a great life of their own and become crowd favorites.

I think it is certainly safe to say that you will not be disappointed if ye are a Hot Chip fan here and I will really say that I can’t wait to see these songs live, because for me that is where this band really shines, by getting a huge dance party going around a song with as goofy a title as “Hand Me Down Your Love”. That is what they do, and they do it oh so well.

BV Rate: 76