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< Those Dancing Days at Water Rats
words by Stuart Stubbs
pics by
TO CONDESCEND THOSE DANCING DAYS is to despise Noel Edmonds, lust after the cast of Hollyoaks and outwit Bruce Forsyth. It’s easy. They’re a band of five angelic Swedish girls; all aged 16 if they’re a day and cuter than the puppy you’ll disown by the January sales. But we’ve been here before, one year ago, when Poppy And The Jezebels’ ‘Nazi Girls’ proved that kids rock – or perhaps pop – with the best of ‘em.Inside The Water Rats Those Dancing Days aren’t marching to the rat-a-tat-tat of songs about fascist females like The Jezebels would be, but are rather bounding along to their crisp Korg sodden Swedish pop. The tightly curled helmet hair of lead singer Linnea and synth girl Lisa’s refusal to stop swaying, bouncing and smiling (yep, she’s having the time of her life alright) of course add to the quintet’s adorable, wide-eyed aesthetic, but without the swooning jazzy pop they pipe out they’d lose even the most supportive of proud parent crowds almost instantly. Of course, they don’t.
Occasionally swaying (through the likes of Myspace forlorn favourite ‘Hitten’), but more often than not head-wobbling through pacier dancehall jives such as ‘1000 Words’, Those Dancing Days recreate their 1930s flapper-toting pop with ease and effortless style on the live stage. Linnea’s nasal vocals would totter on the edge of grating if they didn’t manage to remain softer than the parps of Winehouse and far less ‘waaah’ than Rufus Wainwright. And as the dreamy Scandinavian pop continues, and guitarist Rebecka attempts to out-grin Lisa, we realise the power of Those Dancing Days. Or at least in part. Short of Dandy Dan busting in here to fire splurge guns at Fat Sam, this band have momentarily transformed where we’re standing into the set of Bugsy Malone. Linnea is a positively perfect Blousey Brown, no doubt with a fiery Tallulah in her, as soon as a few more shows boost her confidence. And to not like Bugsy Malone is to please Elton John - harder than life itself!
Originally appeared in volume 1, issue 29 of Loud & Quiet magazine
