''Coming on Strong'' is the debut studio album by English

electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic co ...

band Hot Chip. It was released in the United Kingdom on 24 May 2004 by

Moshi Moshi Records Moshi Moshi Records is a small London-based record label founded in 1998 by Adrian Pike, Michael McClatchey and Stephen Bass. The label has released music by bands including Lykke Li, Fimber Bravo, Bloc Party, Hot Chip, Late of the Pier, H ...

and in the United States and Canada on 29 November 2005 by Astralwerks, as an extended version with three additional bonus tracks. The album was re-released by Moshi Moshi Records in the United Kingdom on 3 May 2009, as a digital download with four additional bonus tracks. In 2014, it was awarded a silver certification from the

Independent Music Companies Association The Independent Music Companies Association (IMPALA), originally the Independent Music Publishers and Labels Association, is a non-profit trade association established in 2000 to help European independent record labels represent their agenda a ...

, which indicated sales of at least 20,000 copies throughout Europe.

Critical reception

''Coming on Strong'' received mixed to positive reviews from music critics. At

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an

average In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7 ...

score of 67, based on 14 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews". Sean Fennessey of ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to ...

'' referred to the album as "a successful but safe entrée to the British electro-soul outfit" and said that the album had "kitschy yet deeply affecting lyrics." Rob Theakston of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

described the sound of the album as "quirky

electro-pop Electropop is a hybrid music genre combining elements of electronic and pop genres. Writer Hollin Jones has described it as a variant of synth-pop with heavy emphasis on its electronic sound. The genre was developed in the 1980s and saw a rev ...

", whilst Ron Hart wrote for '' Billboard'' that the "utilization of American hip-hop scenarios in the context of the English slang is exactly what makes ''Coming on Strong'' such a unique listen."

Track listing

All songs written by Alexis Taylor and Joe Goddard. ;2005 US and Canadian bonus tracks #

"A-B-C" – 4:34 #"Hittin' Skittles" – 4:31 #"From Drummer to Driver" – 4:24 ;2009 UK Digital Download bonus tracks #

"From Drummer to Driver" – 4:24 #"I Don't Know the Half of How to Have a Hope of Holding Back" – 3:04 #"Hittin' Skittles" – 4:30 #"The Ass Attack (

Four Tet Kieran Hebden (born September 1977), known as Four Tet, is an English electronic musician. He came to prominence as a member of the post-rock band Fridge before establishing himself as a solo artist with charting UK albums such as '' Rounds'' ...

Remix)" – 3:01

Personnel

* Owen Clarke –

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

, bass, additional noises, illustration * Al Doyle – guitar, synthesizer,

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

* Joe Goddard –

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

, synthesizer, percussion, producer,

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limit ...

* Felix Martin – drum machine, additional noises *

Alexis Taylor Alexis Taylor (born 20 April 1980) is an English singer, songwriter, and musician. He is best known as the lead vocalist, keyboardist, and guitarist of the band Hot Chip. He is also the keyboardist of the band About Group and has released solo ...

– vocals, synthesizer, guitar, percussion,

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

, producer, engineer * Frank Arkwright – mastering * Scott Bennett –

kalimba Mbira ( ) are a family of musical instruments, traditional to the Shona people of Zimbabwe. They consist of a wooden board (often fitted with a resonator) with attached staggered metal tines, played by holding the instrument in the hands and p ...

(track 10) * Emma Smith –

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...

(track 5) * Darren Wall –

design A design is a plan or specification for the construction of an object or system or for the implementation of an activity or process or the result of that plan or specification in the form of a prototype, product, or process. The verb ''to design' ...

References

{{Authority control 2004 debut albums Astralwerks albums Hot Chip albums Moshi Moshi Records albums