Hot Chip — The Warning

Hot Chip's 2005 debut received attention mostly for the band's soft-spoken, Brit-accented, faux-gangsta rhymes (think The Streets on sedatives) laid out over simplistic beats. Basically, it was a novelty act. Speedy follow-up The Warning ditches the goofy fake hip-hop, for the most part, and shows a heck of a learning curve on the musical side. The first four tracks forego the laid-back laptop beats for the frantic sample kickstart exhibited on "Careful." That track is followed by chilly disco grooves and catchy lyrical repetition, hovering Daft Punk beats and, basically, a lot of fun. The LP later slows down, with the band trying out various electronic and synth-y structures. It occasionally returns to the "cardigan rap" format, but this time around it all seems like much less of a joke.