Dancer Dancer cassette
DANCER’s new sound of young Scotland is not so new—on their debut cassette, these Glaswegians pick up directly from where their hometown’s cult heroes LIFE WITHOUT BUILDINGS left off in the early ’00s. Abstractly poetic lyrics and conversational talk-sung vocals that are sparingly punctuated by ecstatic chirps modeled after Clare Grogan from ALTERED IMAGES (taking the Glasgow local history reenactment back a few more decades to the early ’80s), noodly/twinkly guitar lines that owe more to ’90s post-rock/math rock (big SLINT energy) than any late ’70s DELTA 5/AU PAIRS-style moves, and languid, almost jazzy beats that get just riled up enough at the right moments to push DANCER back toward post-punk tradition and away from the sort of thing that you’d be likely to hear following the SEA AND CAKE at insufferable airspace-aesthetic coffee shops in any city with punishing rents. The tape actually clicks most successfully when they’re at their least mannered and buttoned-up, like on “Ferret Fancier” with its slippery bass, harsh, almost no wave-textured guitar racket, and drawn-out wails; I certainly wouldn’t be mad if they embraced the mess even more the next time around.