Just Dance!

On Monday night I saw The Rapture at Webster Hall in NYC. The Presets opened for them, an Australian cross between Daft Punk and Depeche Mode, and played fairly generic electronica for 45 minutes. The defining moment of their set was when they sampled daft punk during a breakdown- the crowd went wild, where before they had held the typical arms-crossed stance they were now movin and groovin like it was what they did for a living. It just shows that if you can’t do the job yourself get someone who can do it better.

After the Presets took their leave the crowd noticeably thickened in anticipation for the Rapture. People who had spent the two years since their last album at Misshapes dancing to LCD Soundsystem eagerly awaited the band that made it cool to dance in rock clubs again. The crowd roared as NYC’s biggest dance-rockers came out and put on the homecoming show that everyone was hoping for. They opened up with “Heaven”, cranking out a few of those homegrown Gang of Four riffs they’re so good at, as the audience screamed along. Then they played a few tracks off their new album, Pieces of the People We Love, which it seems everyone in the city of New York has purchased except for me. They did a good job of integrating their new material (which is more obviously influenced by the Talking Heads than Gang of Four this time around) with their old hits, but the party didn’t really get started ‘till they played “Killing” and then launched into “Sister Savior”. Webster Hall erupted into a dance fever that reached its height when they played the club hit “House of Jealous Lovers”—lights flashing, sweat dripping, beat bouncing, body moving—I felt like I was at a rave, and I loved it.

Now, concert-going out of the way, I think its important that we notice a precedent for the recent dance-rock movement in the NYC scene of the early 80’s which was centered around ZE Records and bands like ESG, Was (Not Was), James Chance, and Liquid Liquid (who currently reside on DFA Records). The degree of similarity between ZE and its antecedent DFA is surprising (“Bustin’ Out” by Material sounds like a stripped down version of “Sister Savior”). DFA’s entire gameplan, from music to style, is built on the proven formula established by ZE. DFA is playing an old record and if you like the bands on their roster you should pick up a copy of the original.

So if you like the Rapture I’d recommend the ZE records compilation Mutant Disco.