A lot of great music exists out there. But NBN can’t devote a slot to every CD that hits shelves, especially for bands most of you have never heard of. So, that’s where we come in. Due to our indie-leanings here at One-Click Wonders, we catch all the music too obscure for the main page, and offer up a quick take on it. Today, we groove to Hot Chip’s Made in the Dark

First off, Hot Chip’s latest collection of dance floor shakers and ballads includes my favorite single of the young year, “Ready for the Floor,” an awesome dance track propelled by frequently shifting vocals and tilt-a-whirl sonics. The track doesn’t quite match the hip-shaking-but-also-emotional heights of 2006’s “Boy From School,” but no other song from (obviously early) 2008 makes me want to dance and stare longingly out a window.

The rest of the album features the usual mix of good-to-awesome Hot Chip dance numbers mixed with the more hit-or-miss Hot Chip ballads. Made in the Dark doesn’t find the English band exploring new territory or making a big artistic statement: they stick to the dancepunk/electro-rock they’ve mastered up to this point, resulting in another solid album on par with 2006’s great The Warning. The dance tracks burn brightest, as usual, with joints like the robo-fueled “Bendable Poseable,” the LCD-like “Hold On” and the face-changing “Shake a Fist” all serving as perfect DJ fodder. Only one track, the blippy “Don’t Dance,” sounds flat, and even it has a pulse. The standout tracks stand as some of Hot Chip’s most thriving and developed tracks to date. Besides the aforementioned “Ready for the Floor,” the group utilizes the guitar masterfully on the suprisingly brisk “One Pure Thought,” while “Touch Too Much” just sounds like an above-average Hot Chip song, all banging beats, heartfelt lyrics and brain-bustingly sweet breakdowns (seriously, check this one).

Hot Chip’s slower efforts reap mixed results. “Wrestlers” shifts from head-bobbing to slow dance quite well, even if the wrestling analogy running through the song sound kinds of odd, though it’s a pleasant reminder the band hasn’t grown up too much (see weird shout outs to Willie Nelson). “Whistle for Will” and the title track, however, lag along, being the CD’s most arduous moments. Yet the slow jam “We’re Looking for a lot of Love” may be the album stealer, a sexy slow dance with some of the group’s most endearing lyrics. Not going to get you gyrating, but it’s a sweet track overloaded with love that along with the album shows just how well Hot Chip are growing musically.

Bonus video for “Ready for the Floor”