About Group – Start & Complete

About Group is the oddball side project of Hot Chip’s Alexis Taylor, compromising John Coxon of Spiritualized, Charles Hayward of This Heat and session musician Pat Thomas. Their second LP, Start & Complete, was recorded in merely a day at London’s Abbey Road Studios and might be regarded as a feat of musicianship that harnesses the qualities of improvisation. Whilst such an approach relies on the group’s dynamic and instinctive interplay, the outcome is thoroughly mature and cohesive.

You’re No Good is adorned with daubs of the distinctive Wurlitzer organ, breaking down into an abstract jam. Having released the track as a single, despite running at over eleven minutes, About Group are clearly non-conformists. Elsewhere an early acoustic Hot Chip number entitled With Each New Day is reworked, strewn with subtle electronic flourishes whilst Don’t Worry blends a smooth groove on the keys with whiney guitar meanderings, executed with masterful fluidity. That said, with Taylor's vocals at the project’s heart, About Group are unlikely to appeal far beyond the sphere of his day job.