Critiques CD: Hot Chip | In Our Heads

With their fifth studio album, the wistful, cheeky Brits provide more of their well-crafted, catchy electro-pop, but longstanding fans might be a tad let down by what amounts to a partly generic affair. They’ve reigned in on the tongue-and-cheek lyrical content (remember One Life Stand’s deliriously syrupy “Brothers” or the boy band annihilation video for “I Feel Better”?), with a penchant for romance prevailing throughout. Unfortunately, some of these tracks feel too polished and perfectly calibrated for their own good (“How Do You Do?”, “Now There Is Nothing”), and the timid pipes and detached delivery of reluctant cover boy Alexis Taylor (pretty much the Rivers Cuomo of UK dance) are as grating as they’ve ever been. Thankfully, Joe Goddard’s deep, textured vocals still serve as a perfect counterpart, and the band’s cornucopia of savvy musical influences still yield a few anthemic stompers (“Flutes”, “Motion Sickness”, “These Chains”).