This week in Indie Basement: Hot Chip‘s eighth album is one of their most sublime creations to date; Aussie punks The Chats deliver pure snotty attitude on their second album; Brooklyn experimentalists Oneida play it straight on Success; New Zealand DIY cult legends Tall Dwarfs get a new four-LP compilation; Royksopp return with a second volume of Profound Mysteries; and Matmos’ Drew Daniel covers Coil on The Soft Pink Truth‘s new EP.

These are not the only new records out today, of course. You can also read about Cass McCombs, SRSQ, and more in Notable Releases.

Need more? I look back on Spoon’s Kill the Moonlight and Interpol’s debut album, both of which turn 20 this weekend.

Also: two twangy artists who made the Indie Basement Best LPs of 2020 list, Dougie Poole and Honey Harper, are back.

If you’re in NYC currently and are looking for something free to do, you still have time to visit The Birth of Punk exhibit at the Seaport.

Q Lazzarus, rest in peace.

Over in the Indie Basement basement of the BrooklynVegan shop, the virtual shelves are stocked with records by  Cocteau Twins, The Beths, Aldous Harding, The Cure, Can, Neu!, Stereolab, Broadcast, Mazzy Star, Beach House, Wet Leg, Kevin Morby, Yard Act, Mazzy Star, Talking Heads, Just Mustard, Midlake, Pixies, Sparks, Liars, The Kinks, The Zombies, The Monkees, and lots more.

Head below for this week’s reviews.

ALBUM OF THE WEEK: Hot Chip – Freakout/Release (Domino)
Eighth album from long-running indie dance vets delivers thoughtful contemplation without sacrificing the banger quotient

it’s hard to believe Hot Chip, the quirky, nerdy, hipstery indie dance group, have been together for more than 20 years. Their 2004 debut album was called Coming on Strong and I’m happy to report that their new and eighth album, Freakout/Release, could’ve been titled Still Going Strong. While the winking, tongue-in-cheek humour that enlivened nu-rave era tracks like “Crap Kraft Dinner,” “Down WIth Prince,” and “Over and Over” has waned, they’ve replaced it with gentle, genuine compassion, all without losing sight of the dancefloor. Hot Chip have become masters of the bittersweet banger and Freakout/Release is full of them.

Freakout/Release feels particularly inspired, and part of that might be due to the circumstances of its creation. As opposed to their previous albums which were made primarily by main songwriters Alexis Taylor and Joe Goddard, this is their first to involve the whole band right from the start. It was also the first album made at their new Relax & Enjoy Studio in East London that bandmember Al Doyle put together before and during the first year of Covid. With no one looking at the clock, and the studio’s “everything’s always on” setup, random moments of inspiration that may have been previously lost were automatically captured, allowing for, Goddard says, “creation in a natural way, without too much discussion or a grand plan.”

If nothing hits you over the head the way “Over & Over” or “Ready for the Floor” did, Freakout/Release features some of Hot Chip’s most sublime creations, holding your attention across 11 songs, most of which deliver those happy/sad vibes and good grooves. Chief among them is “Eleanor,” an anthemic and joyful house track about the warm feelings that remain after a relationship ends: “If you choose to remember me / Hold me gently as you fall asleep / Even if you believe that there’s nothing more / I feel heaven knocking at our door.” There’s also the swaying, yearning “Broken”; the skipping “Time” that is musically akin to “I Feel Better” but hangs heavy with lines like “And they say time will heal you / Do they know what you’ve been through?”; and the soulful, motorik closer “Out of My Depth” that plays like a slow fade hymn into the sunset.

Hot Chip have not lost their playful side, though. “Down” samples Universal Togetherness Band’s “More Than Enough,” making for a fun, bang-start to the album; “Hard to Be Funky” features old friend Lou Hayter and tips its hat to a group they used to get compared to a lot, Laid Back; and the rambunctious title track which was co-produced by Soulwax, inspired by “Seven Nation Army,” and sounds especially good at full volume. More than some other genres, dance music can be a young person’s game and it’s heartening to find a group, two decades into their career, still finding new things to say, and new ways to say them while retaining that spark that made you like them in the first place.

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The Chats: Get Fucked (Bargain Bin Records)
Aussie punks’ second album is 28 minutes of pure flip-the-bird attitude

Young, loud, snotty. Sometimes that’s all you need, that and some thick Aussie accents. You know what you’re getting with Get Fucked, the new album from Sunshine Coast punks The Chats, before even hearing a note. The album title, the cover art with all three members flipping you the bird — you’re in or you’re out. Five years since “Smoko” was a viral hit, the band are still pretty much operating in the same mode and for the most part it’s still working — short, sharp blasts of pure attitude with brash humor and hooky riffs. The best Chats songs, like “Smoko,” find inspiration and angst in everyday situations and that holds true on Get Fucked: bending the rules of public transportation (“Ticket Inspector”); taking financial frustrations out on an ATM (“Paid Late”); car aficionados (“6L GTR”); surf culture (“Emperor of the Beach”); and beer (“I’ve Been Drunk in Every Pub in Brisbane”). They’ve even got a sequel of sorts to their biggest hit (“The Price of Smokes”). While clocking in at a swift 28 minutes, Get Fucked might be a longer chat than you need but in single servings, nearly all of these songs are a blast.

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Oneida – Success (Joyful Noise)
Experimental vets Oneida show they can make ‘straight ahead’ rock like the best of them

Oneida have been doing it themselves longer than most people realize there’s been a Brooklyn DIY scene. They have always had one foot in the experimental / improvisational world, but on Success they want to remind people that they can rock as well as be weird. “We honestly did not try to make something more straight ahead but it came out that way,” says drummer Kid Millions. You may have forgotten they can even do “straight ahead,” but these seven roaring rippers make it abundantly clear. They are still weirder and noisier than your average indie rock band, but tracks like “I Wanna Hold Your Electric Hand” have discernable verses, choruses and hooks, even if the next line in the song is “between my teeth.”

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Tall Dwarfs – Unravelled: 1981–2002 (Merge)
Influential Kiwi DIY indie icons’ sprawling discography is condensed into a slightly less sprawling but still huge four-LP compilation

Like The Fall, Half Japanese, and Cleaners from Venus, New Zealand’s Tall Dwarfs are widely influential on some of your favorite indie rock groups but have the kind of massive catalogue, full of albums, singles, EPs, flexis, etc that can be intimidating to the uninitiated. Formed in 1981 by Chris Knox and Alec Bathgate, the duo made their own kind of  weirdo folk punk, banging on cardboard boxes, strumming an omnichord synth, overdubbing vocals on a hissy cassette Portastudio, leaving warts and all. Pavement, Superchunk, Neutral Milk Hotel (and the entire Elephant 6 collective), The Mountain Goats, and Bill Callahan are among those who count themselves as fans. This new four-LP (2 CD) compilation on Merge (a label that owes a huge debt to Tall Dwarfs and their label, Flying Nun) was compiled by Bathgate and is more of a deep dive than a 101 class, but does do a great job of condensing a sprawling discography into a (comparatively) more manageable three-hour, 55 song set that still keeps things appropriately shaggy. Or as Jeff Mangum says, “This box set will bless you with some of the catchiest and most intelligent songwriting ever conceived. Acoustic outsider poetry punk, mixed with a ‘studio as instrument’ artfulness. what more could you want?”

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The Soft Pink Truth – Was It Ever Real? (Thrill Jockey)
Matmos’ Drew Daniel covers Coil on this companion EP to his upcoming disco/house-inspired album

The Soft Pink Truth, aka Matmos’ Drew Daniel, is gearing up to release new album Is It Going to Get Any Deeper Than This? which was inspired by Arthur Russell and Paradise Garage disco and house. Before that, he’s dropped this companion EP as a limited edition CD/cassette featuring four non-LP cuts. The standouts come sandwiched in the middle, most notably a cover of Coil’s 1986 queer classic “The Anal Staircase,” that turns the post-industrial original into lush, thumping disco, making it in some ways even more subversive. Also great: the slinky “You Don’t Know (The Full Rose of Dawn)” that may or may not be tipping its sequined hat at Godley & Creme’s “Cry” before exploding into a seductive, piano-laden house groove. There’s also the “Dark Room” mix of “Is It Gonna Get Any Deeper Than This?” (which doesn’t appear on the album of the same name), and the sultry title track that features snaking guitar from Acetone’s Mark Lightcap. Was it Ever Real? works both as a companion piece to what looks to be a fascinating album, and as a own standalone record.

Röyksopp – Profound Mysteries II (Dog Triumph)
Norwegian duo offer up a second volume of their collaborative series, this time featuring Susanne Sundfør, Pixx and more

Long-running Norwegian electronic duo Röyksopp released Profound Mysteries — a multidisciplinary “project” (aka: album) that featured commissioned visual art for every song — and now they’re back with a second volume. Like the first, this one features a lot of guest vocalists including Susanne Sundfør (who was on the first), 4AD artist Pixx, and Karen Harding. Volume II feels even more ready for the party than the first, dabbling in early-’90s house (“Unity” ft Harding) and slick Europop (“Oh, Lover” ft Sundfør), not to mention the sort of effervescent grooves that got them noticed initially (“Let’s Get It Right” ft Astrid S could’ve been on their 2001 debut). The best songs this time, though, might be the ones with no vocalists at all. “Control” and “Denimclad Baboons” pull you onto the dancefloor with beats and synthy basslines alone.

Looking for more? Browse the Indie Basement archives.

And check out what’s new in our shop.

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Beyond “Blue Monday”: New Order’s Best Deep Cuts

“Dreams Never End” (1981)

New Order were still underneath the shadow of Joy Division in 1981, a hard shackle to shake. Unsure how to progress after the death of Ian Curtis, both guitarist Bernard Sumner and Peter Hook sing lead on New Order's debut album, Movement, and both sound like they're trying to mimic him. "Dreams Never End," which features Hook on vocals, is musically bright and sunny, with Hook, Sumner and Gilbert's instruments swirling around Stephen Morris' insistent, danceable beat. The Cure would crib liberally from this for their 1986 single "Inbetween Days."

“Procession” (1981)

Following their debut single, "Ceremony" (which had been played live with Joy Division), their next release was "Procession" which felt like a natural progression from Joy Division's Closer, with glacial synths washing over a frantic rhythm section and Bernard Sumner's brittle guitars. Recorded and released before Movement, "Procession" nonetheless feels past it, with Bernard Sumner coming into his own as lead vocalist. While a single, "Procession" didn't make it on to the main tracklist for 1987's Substance, but was instead relegated to the bonus disc of the CD. But it's a pivotal song in their evolution.

“Turn the Heater On” (1982 John Peel Session)

Keith Hudson's "Turn the Heater On" was Ian Curtis' favorite reggae song, says Peter Hook in his Substance memoir, saying it was where Bernard Sumner "got the got the idea for using the melodica," an instrument which would turn up in New Order songs like "Your Silent Face" and "Love Vigilantes." Barney's only playing guitar at the end, after he's stopped singing," adds Hook, only kinda joking that "That became the whole template for the band."

“The Village” (1983)

Power, Corruption & Lies is a perfect record, and none of the songs were released as singles -- "Blue Monday" was tacked onto the U.S. CD release -- so every song could theoretically fit on this list. There are moments of sadness and desolation, but there are also songs of unabashed joy. In much the same spirit as "Age of Consent," "The Village" bounces along like the first day of spring with Sumner singing "Our love is like the flowers / The rain, the sea and the hours." The mid-section instrumental -- with guitars, synthesizers and drum machines joining forces -- remains one of New Order's most magical moments.

"The synths are incredible from 1:45 so in your face but not overpowering ... then they disappear - my whole taste in music seemed to change because of this song" - The Charlatan's Tim Burgess on "The Village"

“Leave Me Alone” (1983)

Many of New Order's most genius moments come from the interplay between Peter Hook's bass -- which is almost always played high up on the neck to where some mistake it for guitar -- and Bernard Sumner's guitar. Is there a more perfect example than on Power Corruption & Lies' closing track? The bass hook opens the song, but it's when the chiming guitar lead enters that "Leave Me Alone" truly blooms. (Gillian Gilbert adds further, crucial, counterpoint guitar lines.) A grey-hued portrait of loneliness ("On a thousand islands in the sea / I see a thousand people just like me"), it's one of New Order's crowning achievements, fading out with two more minutes of gorgeous instrumental melancholia.

“Thieves Like Us” (1984)

This is the big concession to the "no singles" rule on this list. While "Thieves Like Us" went to #18 in the UK in 1984, it does not have the stature of "Bizarre Love Triangle," "Temptation," "Blue Monday," "Sub-Culture," "True Faith" or even LP tracks like "Age of Consent" or "Love Vigilantes." But it is one of New Order's best, most deeply emotive songs -- it's Peter Hook's favorite (you can see his full Top 10 below) -- that needs all six minutes and 36 seconds to work its magic. Bernard Sumner's vocals doesn't even come in till two-and-a-half minutes into the song, long after we've been seduced by the song's NYC hip-hop inspired rhythm section and majestic washes of synths. While the song works well as an instrumental -- it plays over the "making the dress" montage in Pretty in Pink -- Sumner gives a great delivery with a whole lot of "Loves," in his signature, fragile style.

PETER HOOK: THE TEN BEST NEW ORDER SONGS from his memoir "Substance: Inside New Order" 1. "Thieves Like Us"
2. "Leave Me Alone"
3. "Homage" (unreleased)
4. "Too Late" (John Peel session)
5. "Someone Like You"
6. "Ruined in a Day" (K-KLass Remix)
7. "Every Little Counts"
8. "Age of Consent"
9. "Temptation"
10. "Eligia"

“Lonesome Tonight” (1984)

"Lonesome Tonight" is, according to Peter Hook, New Order's ode to Elvis Presley. Bernard Sumner was apparently obsessed with a version of "Lonesome Tonight" (where The King can't stop laughing) and suggested to the rest of New Order they try jamming it on stage one night. That bit of C-F chord improvisation became this song, which Hook calls "a glorious tune even though it's nothing like Elvis', given away in true fashion as a b-side." (It's the flip to "Thieves Like Us.") New Order rarely needed more than two chords to create something amazing (see all of Power, Corruption and Lies), and when the synthesizers crest halfway through, it evokes Joy Division's "Atmosphere." If you're wondering, that is Peter Hook clearing his sinuses at the four-minute mark. "When Barney heard me hocking up phlegm into a handkerchief he suggested we put it on at the end because the contrast between something so beautiful and something so awful might be interesting. He was absolutely right."

“Murder” (1984)

New Order have always had a way with instrumentals and this one's a real tour-de-force, a pounding goth nightmare powered by Stephen Morris' propulsive drumming, a sinister bass line from Hook and Sumner's three-note, cyclical guitar hook. The song also makes great, creepy use of movie samples of Hal in 2001: A Space Odyssey and Malcolm McDowell in infamous big-budget softcore film Caligula. "Murder," which has been covered by The Charlatans and K-X-P, was originally only released as a single in Belgium, but later appeared on the second disc of the Substance two-CD set.

“Elegia” (full version) (1985)

An ode to Ennio Morricone's spaghetti western scores, specifically the pocket watch scene from A Few Dollars More, "Elegia" opens side two of 1985's highly underrated Low-Life. While the five-minute instrumental is carefully paced, exploding into full Sergio Leone glory in the last minute, the original 17-minute version is even better. "Dylan Jones - then editor at id magazine --asked us if we’d like to do some music for a short 15-20 min art film," Stephen Morris says. "We went into a studio in Wembley and did a marathon all night session. The film never happened, but we liked 'Elegia' so much it got edited down to fit on the LP." As Morris says, "Hooky's bass melodies on 'Elegia' are majestic."

"Elegia" is one of three New Order tracks to appear in Pretty in Pink ("Thieves Like Us" and "Shellshock," which appears on the soundtrack album, are the others), and you may have also heard it in Stranger Things, and the trailer for video game "Metal Gear Solid 5: Phantom Pain."

“Sooner Than You Think” (1985)

Like Power, Corruption and Lies, Low-Life is a near-perfect album and picking from the many great songs is difficult. Following "Blue Monday" and "Thieves Like Us," New Order really came into their own as far as blending rock and club music. While the albums that follow would more often than not have songs that were either "rock" or "synth," Low-Life let things intermingle in wonderful and surprising ways. After a building, minute-long intro that is mostly guitar, bass and drums, "Sooner Than You Think" shifts gears and lets the keyboards take over. "A very unusual tune, showing exactly why I used to love New Order," says Peter Hook in his memoir. "We were so versatile." As the lyrics describe, the song was actually written after "a party in [New Order's] hotel" in Zurich in 1984. "I think some members of the Furious Five were there, no Grandmaster Flash," recalls Stephen Morris. "There was a very loud blaster in a very small room - other hotel guests were not amused - complaints were made, maybe I dreamt the Furious Five bit? But not the Swiss police though."

“Face Up” (1985)

This one should've been a single. "When we first wrote Face up in early 1984 we thought it was the best thing ever," says Stephen Morris. "Face Up" is another New Order song where two disparate parts have been grafted together, with an an atmospheric intro ("inspired by Caligula" says Hook) that then drastically shifts gears into music that all but demands you bounce up and down. Sonically, "Face Up" is pure ebullience, the kind few besides New Order can do with guitars, but the lyrics -- "Oh how I cannot bear the thought of you" -- are a decided kiss-off from a spurned lover. "I couldn’t understand why some people didn’t get Face Up’s euphoria, but maybe you had to be playing the drums to fully get that," adds Morris.

“Way of Life” (1986)

As the '80s progressed, New Order became more and more known as a synthpop band, but they remained a clever, inventive rock band on album tracks, as is evidenced by the entire first side of 1986's Brotherhood. "Way of Life" closes out Side A, beginning with another gloomy fake-out intro before blossoming into a wonderful pop song with a chorus so infectious it seems impossible they would bury it this deep into the album. Hook says "We were trying to emulate 'Age of Consent' so I just played the riff backwards, and voilà."

“Every Little Counts” (1986)

New Order were guilty a few times over the years of what Peter Hook calls "five o'clock in the morning lyrics." Sometimes that meant something special, like "you caught me at a bad time, so why don't you piss off" (Power, Corruption & Lies' "Your Silent Face") and sometimes it gives you the opening lines to Brotherhood's closing track. "Every second counts when I am with you / I think you are a pig, you should be in a zoo," which Bernard Sumner cannot get through without laughing. (He also didn't feel a need to do another take.) And yet, "Every Second Counts" is still pure gold, making great use of orchestral samples, harmony and Sumner's winning "do de do de dooh" chorus. "Every Little Counts" is also a perfect album-closer, with a massive, woozy swell from their Emulator sampling keyboard -- "with Barney holding all the keys down at once, using both arms" -- and then a great final joke that definitely freaked out some vinyl listeners at the time.

“1963” (1987)

Like "The Perfect Kiss," this b-side to 1987 single "True Faith" is a story-song about a doomed relationship -- and perhaps firearms -- set to ultra-catchy crystalline synthpop. There's a case to be made that it's better than the A-side (which was one of New Order's biggest hits and their first entry into the Billboard Top 40). For people like Peter Hook who wished more of Peter Hook's distinctive bass stylings made it into the the final product (it doesn't show up till right before the slow fade out), Arthur Baker's sublime remix adds in more string instruments -- bass and guitar -- throughout.

“Vanishing Point” (1989)

Both Stephen Morris and Peter Hook's favorite song on 1989's Technique, "Vanishing Point" is one of New Order's finest electronic dance songs (and it really should've been a single instead of either "Fine Time" or "Run"). Like "Thieves Like Us," this one is in no hurry to get to vocals, with the 90 second lead-in playing like an overture, leading us through the major melodic points; when Sumner does begin with "Grow up children don't you suffer / at the hands of one another" it's a cinematic experience. "Vanishing Point" has the best chorus on the album and the best breakdown and "drop" (before they called them that), that was clearly influenced by the two months spent in Ibiza making the album (and spending a lot of time at the club).

“Dream Attack” (1989)

individual lanes, but the album closes with the glorious "Dream Attack" that brings the whole record together, mixing ragged guitar solos, windswept acoustic guitars, sampled orchestra hits, sequencers and live drums -- plus another great chorus -- all together as only New Order can do. Bernard Sumner apparently had The Eagles' "Hotel California" in mind with the song's two-minute jam outro which, in their hands, works. Gillian Gilbert, who played those wonderful acoustic guitars, says, "To me, Dream Attack' sums up the whole album. It’s bright breezy and uplifting...a good song to walk off into the sunset to."

“Special” (1993)

New Order were not especially getting along in the early-'90s, but got back together to make a new album, as they were low on funds after their label Factory Records (which went belly-up the year prior) and their troubled Manchester club, The Hacienda, depleted their bank accounts. Republic was, by all accounts, not the most pleasant recording experience with Bernard Sumner and Peter Hook butting heads constantly. There's not much of Hook's signature bass on the album, but there is some unfortunate rapping by Sumner. Republic does contain "Regret," one of their best-ever singles (a Top 40 hit in the US), and some of the old magic can also be found tucked away near the end of Side 2 with the sultry, moody "Special," which is driven by Hook's bass and another great chorus. Lyrically the song is perhaps referencing the demise of Factory Records or the group itself: "It was always special, like water down the drain." New Order went on an eight-year hiatus not long after its release.