Earlier today, I checked out the video I posted above from Middle 8 and it brought back a flood of memories. The last round of dance-punk occurred while I was hitting early adulthood. I remember being recommended The Rapture by a Hot Topic employee when I was a senior in high school. I remember following many of the bands with an eagle-eye while reviewing new music for the school's radio station. I remember seeing The Rapture three years later Halloween 2006 at Webster Hall in New York for the CMJ Music Marathon and all the weird experiences I had while hanging out in Manhattan that week. I remember being pissed off that I lost out on getting a ticket to LCD Soundsystem's "last show" in 2011, which happened the day right after I got laid off and was unemployed in the middle of the Recession and went to a Destroyer concert that night instead.
Dance-punk is the soundtrack of a vital part of my life and Frank Furtado (the person behind Middle 8) captures everything about it well. It's also heartening to see that it's starting to make a comeback (I was getting worried the kids were only into emo these days...) and that there's a number of newer bands making great music like what I heard during my college days. While it goes dormant, it appears to never die. Long live dance-punk.
My Personal Favorites
Echoes - The Rapture (2003)
It's pretty clear I wasn't the only one who fell in with this music because of this album. I don't remember her name but thank you Cool Hot Topic Cashier for recommending this to 17-year-old me. Blasting "House of Jealous Lovers" out of my CRV for the first time is something I'll never forget.
A Certain Trigger - Maxïmo Park (2005)
I don't know if this really counts as a dance-punk record (Furtado mentions that the line is blurry between 2000s indie rock and actual dance-punk) but it's both danceable (they followed after Franz Ferdinand broke through) and at times lovely (my recommended tracks are "Apply Some Pressure" and “The Coast is Always Changing”). I feel this is an underrated classic album and I wish more people have heard it.
Louden Up Now - !!! (2004)
"Pardon My Freedom" is probably the only political anthem I can think of that's also deliriously filthy...
DFA Compilation, Vol. 2 (2004)
Need a good scope of what this whole thing when it was starting to coalesce? This is probably both the best and worst place to start.
You Could Have It So Much Better - Franz Ferdinand (2005)
The first album (Franz Ferdinand) is a certified classic and I remember getting itchy about going to Tower Records in Fairfax, VA to get it after I was done with interning at the county government office. That said, I actually love the less-lauded follow-up better since I feel it's a much tighter set of songs. Both are recommended - they even go better when played back-to-back.
Sound of Silver - LCD Soundsystem (2007)
This is the apex of the genre. No questions, no contests. One of my all-time Top 10 favorite albums.
Want More?
If you want to read more about the history of dance-punk, Bloomsbury released a comprehensive overview through their 33⅓ series as the first in a set about genres (read a little of it myself – it’s pretty good!).
Furtado also posted a Spotify playlist for the video, which has a good sampling of the overall set of bands that fall under the scope of dance-punk from the 1970s to now:
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