A few girlfriends and I found ourselves shakin' it at the so-hip-almost-square 80s revival space, Club "[enter cultural-staple 80s chart-topping' single here]." We were all swaying in appropriate pretentiousness to Hot Chip's latest The Warning, naked of smiles because anything other than expressionless faces would let everyone know how much fun we were having. I scan the floor and eye- lock it with the most deliciously-indie-groomed boy and instantly snap my eyes back in the opposite direction. I dare to shoot a coy look back only to find my lovely shamelessly making-out with-- his boyfriend. It was the slithering synths of Hot Chip that consoled my fevered frustration.

Well displayed on The Warning, Hot Chip continue to mold a more imaginative breed of pop music. While embodying a user-friendly mixture of experimental and accessible beats, Hot Chip produces this fresh brand of dance music that extends beyond a mere reflection of pulsating sexual energy and speaks with some soul that is clever and stylish.

The album begins rather cautiously with "Careful," a texturally-thick collection of rough and bristle synth voices only to be roughly up-staged by creamy-cool "And I Was a Boy From School." "Careful" may appear like an appropriate candidate for the introductory track, as its asperous and agitated "work in progress" sound is immediately resolved by the rhythmic-ripplessness of "And I Was a Boy From School." This alternation of extremes between highly contrasting cacophonous beats with lustrous tranquil ones is the first sight of the album's prominent pattern. Much of The Warning subsists like bits of an adoring care package from your world-traveling Auntie Chloe. "And I Was a Boy from School" twinkles like a cherished jewel covered by layers and layers of fluff tissue paper to protect it. Overall, the package is much appreciated because of those few twinkling jewels, but everything else around it is just tissue paper.

No doubt about it, The Warning fulfills its duty on the dance floor. I caught myself swayin' and shakin' effortlessly to the animated and contagious creations. The album rides a considerable amount of highs and lows but was undoubtedly not enough for me. The disinclined and drowsy tunes about appear like weightless filler that could have been easily left out or simply ignored. Hot Chip's The Warning achieves success on a slim, superficial level that arrives short with a second reading. Like my eye-lock with that deliciously-indie groomed boy, a jewel like moment is instantly and brutally rebuffed the second I steal a second look.