Santa Clause isn’t real, old people smell funny and Hot Chip’s new album isn’t as good as the last one. In my non-certified and non-internationally recognized position as guy who thinks he knows things about music, it’s my opinion that this album will pass by without anyone even noticing it.

The first three tracks are solid laid back grooves, however they sound like Everything But the Girl covers. This is certainly not what I was expecting from a band that revels in making new and exciting music. In more breaking bad news, it appears as if they’ve tried to get a little more serious on this album too. Franz Ferdinand learned this the hard way, but some groups are just really good at pumping out big beats, catchy lyrics and contagious melodies.

The track ‘Brothers’ sounds like a Pet Shop Boys B-side, while some of the other tracks belong on the Fresh FM emergency broadcast tape. The reason I’m comparing tracks from this album to the likes of other bands is because not much of it sounds like Hot Chip. If any of this album had appeared on their previous two releases, you probably would have skipped passed them. One chunk for trying, and one chunk in case I end up loving it in six months. 
- Doug

Merge Digs
01. Thieves In The Night
02. Hand Me Down Your Lovey