No act seems to purely embody the rise of “indietronica” the way that Hot Chip does. The London-based quintet in 2010 is something like the more serious, experimental cinematic adaptation of Erasure‘s heart-on-sleeve Broadway bombast. A more midtempo effort than its previous work, Hot Chip’s fourth studio release, “One Life Stand,” is a warm album, with lyrics like: “Why can’t I be bright, like my lover’s light,” “When you hold me, I feel better” and “I only want to be your one life stand.” Richly uplifting arrangements, dynamic percussion and an attention to vocals (some shared) that’s intimately communal mostly make up for some excessive sentimentality and steel drums. But what’s missing on the album is an obvious classic. Even the most engaging tracks, like the layered “I Feel Better” or the endearing “Alley Cats,” lack a pop snap that Hot Chip’s emotional dance pop could so well support.
