KEY POINTS:
Herald rating: * * * *
Hot Chip are Britain's answer to LCD Soundsystem. The London electro dance pop band is just as cool, stylish and fun as the New Yorkers who are also on the DFA record label.
And Made In the Dark, the band's third album, is equal parts dance music and beautiful balladry as LCD's excellent Sound Of Silver was last year.
Made In the Dark has a retro '80s feel but songs like A Touch Too Much owe more to True Faith and Bizarre Love Triangle era New Order than the decade's cheesy acts like A-ha.
There's the farting, squirting and banging Shake A Fist, the gorgeous electro-soul of One Pure Thought, and then it's back into the warped dancefloor bender Hold On, with the funkiest, fast guitar strum you will have heard in years and the great line: "I'm only going to heaven, if it feels like hell, I'm only going to heaven, if it tastes like caramel".
Hot Chip started making a name for themselves following 2006's The Warning, which had obvious hits like Over and Over, but this time round they've come up with an all-round satisfying album.
It's playful, and at times verges on camp but moochy tunes like Ready For The Floor are timely a reminder that electronic music can have heart and soul too.
Label: DFA/EMI
Verdict: Push play for hot dance moves and even hotter love action
