Dancer – More or Less
On their followup to last year's 10 Song I Hate About You, Dancer aren't reinventing the wheel but they charm in spades
Dancer teased their fantastic new album with three singles that make heavy use of a greenscreen. On Just Say Yes, they play blowup instruments in fancy dress on a speedboat, on Happy Halloween they’re perpetually spinning into a fiery vortex, while on Baby Blue, singer Gemma Fleet is a floating head in space, wearing a party hat. The videos feel like the Glasgow-based band are underlining a manifesto commitment to use small budgets to make something fun, attention grabbing and really quite charming.
More or Less arrives just 18 months after their debut and it's full of the same bursts of sparkling, jangly pop. Dancer don’t try to reinvent the wheel, instead they draw from a long lineage of Northern indie bands. Songs like Baby Blue and Just Say Yes contain the bouncy spiky riffs synonymous with Sacred Paws, their buoyant bass grooves call to mind Field Music and the resounding choruses of Always Running and Deadline evoke erstwhile outfit Frankie & The Heartstrings. With slicker production, cleaner tones and plenty of their own unique charm thrown in, Dancer may not make big-budget blockbusters, but they may make your favourite cult-indie classic.
Listen to: Legend, Always Running, Baby Blue