Don’t try and tell Hot Chip that New York audiences don’t dance. For the best part of 10 years, the Londoners have been moving exponentially larger crowds all over town with their electro-pop sound. On Tuesday, they’re back again for a show at Roseland Ballroom.
“The last time I was at Roseland was to see Franz Ferdinand when their first album was out,” says soft-spoken front man Alexis Taylor. “I was stood behind David Bowie and Lou Reed, who were at a little table watching them together. I remember Bowie had a little sports backpack on. I thought it was quite sweet to see they still hang out from time to time.”
Whether they attract such iconic clientele to their show this week remains to be seen, but there’s no doubt Hot Chip will fill the room with fans wanting to wig out to songs from their fifth album “In Our Heads.”
Dancing is irresistible when seeing the five-piece, completed by multi-instrumentalists Joe Godard, Owen Clarke, Al Doyle and Felix Martin. It’s something that happens almost involuntarily once Hot Chip’s syncopated beats (augmented live by two drummers) and Taylor’s soulful croon unite. “In Our Heads” may have only got to a paltry No. 62 in the Billboard Chart, but when it comes to the live circuit, Hot Chip are a big draw.
“I think we’ve managed to gain a good reputation as a live band because we’re not happy to make our gigs exactly like the record,” Taylor says. “We always strive to create something more.”
It’s not just the dancers that love Hot Chip either, it’s the lovers. Taylor’s emotional and touchingly tender lyrics are equally cherished by their legions of followers. It’s not unusual to see the group’s slower, R & B flavored jams accompanied by fans getting it on with each other.
The bespectacled Taylor — whose rock-star credentials are blighted slightly by a resemblance to the hapless Officer Sweetchuck from the “Police Academy” films — acknowledges romance is a big facet of the band’s appeal.
“There are quite a lot of slower love songs in the records,” he says. “I think it’s quite romantic music, although people all over the world have different ways of expressing their enjoyment.
“One time in Australia, someone decided to set a guy’s hair on fire and as he jerked around trying to put it out, he hit a beer bottle being held by his wife. There’s another guy I’ve seen in Brussels who is known for turning up to shows completely naked. But yes, seeing people getting intimate is something we’ve noticed. We’ll do what we can to continue helping humankind get together.”