Dance Electric

There are few bands whose names suit their sound quite as perfectly as Dance Electric. From this eight-song record’s opening cry of "We are Dance Electric!,” the dance-ability factor is clearly high, but the crushing instrumental explosion that immediately follows proves that the band’s aggressive tendencies lurk only inches below the surface. At times sounding like a less purposely abrasive incarnation of early Blood Brothers, songs like "MDJ (A Million Dead Jocks)” mix the band’s penchant for hooky rock’n’roll riffs with a Refused-influenced vocal delivery. Nowhere is this balance more perfectly achieved than on "The California Song,” which somehow manages to connect a "Whoa-oh-oh” chorus with a heavy breakdown and an extended electronic dance break. In powerfully declaring their identity from second one, Dance Electric are able to drive that sonic style home for the proceeding 17 minutes of aggressive, danceable hardcore punk.