Hot Chip biography

Well, however you phrase it, and just like the young lad who tucks it between his legs 'just to see what it's like to be a girl', they were (and are) trying something new. Quickly becoming the darlings not only of the major music mags, but also of the buying public (it's best remembered that the two don't always come hand in hand), they released their first full-length album, 'Coming on Strong' in May 2004. An assortment of what sounded like only semi-serious, half-finished work, it conveyed their innate sense of humour well, but as well as showing their influences - Prince, Stevie Wonder, various R&B - it also showed full well that they'd never come close to emulating them. Which was probably the whole point.

Still, they managed to forge a US deal with DFA records, who released their debut album in the states the next year, and the five-some set about recording their second full-lengther. Now signed to EMI, Hot Chip brought out 'The Warning' in 2006, a more mainstream success and a hit with the critics again. They also enjoyed their first two top forty singles, with 'Over and Over' (# 32) and 'And I Was a Boy From School' (#40) both cementing their status.

What must help the group stand out from the crowd - and they certainly do - is their image. Co-front-man Alexis Taylor is a case in point; a short, nerdy looking man, always seen in big specs that evoke memories of Trevor Horn in The Buggles, or maybe even Mike Read on his used car lot in Eastenders. He maintains, however, that Hot Chip don't actually have 'a look', and in fairness he may have a point - if the five of them walked past you on the street, you'd find it hard to believe any of them were in one of the coolest bands of recent years.

They've also got a good reputation for their live performances - overcoming the fact that some of their songs are not performable verbatim in alive context, they simply reinvent them - and spots at major festivals such as Reading, Leeds, T in the Park, and Glastonbury in 2007 proved that the heavily electropop band can still do it on stage too. Added to that, there's the fact that all five core members are pretty useful with a set of decks too (as seen by their respective turns - pardon the pun - on Pete Tong's 'The Essential Mix' on Radio One just after Christmas 2007).

Third album 'Made in the Dark' has been forged via a somewhat unlikely source of inspiration. According to Alexis Taylor, heavy metal was in their minds during its conception: 'We're not claiming that every song is influence by Megadeth. But 'Out at the Pictures' and 'Bendable Poseable' recall Black Sabbath'. Fair enough, then - maybe 2008's live performance from Hot Chip will feature some high profile bat beheadings? More album highlights include 'Wrestlers', a song about professional wrestling that came to be because they had loaned band-member Al Doyle to LCD Soundsystem, and found out that they might have some trouble getting him back: 'James Murphy [LCD Soundsystem's front man] borrowed Al from our band, and he told me that we couldn't have Al back unless I wrestled him.'

As long as Hot Chip continue to nail their quirky colours firmly to the mast in such a fashion, their infectious joy at what their doing is likely to keep them in people's affections for quite a while - and with singles such as the unbelievably catchy 'Ready For the Floor', the chart success is likely to keep coming along too.

• Hot Chip Discography