Romantic and musical partners Rachel Brown and Nate Amos offer up a wonderful mix of 80s post-punk and 90s dream pop on their third record, All A Dance. It’s a dance record in the way that the best new wave is “dance” – it’s all in the head. The record uses six characters from six unnamed movies to weave rather sad tales, pulling at the heartstrings. Rachel’s ethereal vocals and the haunting and emotive lyrics delightfully play off the hypnotic dance beats and head-nodding synth lines.
The title track is probably the most overtly danceable track, and it belies the small doses of hazy psych influence that make the record’s other best tracks (“We’re Set Up” and “Let It Ring”) lodge deep into your cranium. “All A Dance” indulges in a hip-shaking bass line that just doesn’t quit, and the robotic vocals are a nice divergence from the rest of the album’s more morose moments. All A Dance is a delightful, short listen that never overstays its welcome and allows you to find out which human reflex is stronger in you: dancing or crying. The record sure does evoke both responses with aplomb.
