Dance, The – In Lust [GREEN VINYL] - New LP

NYC 1981

Review by Fred Thomas: New York band the Dance existed for a brief window in the late '70s and early '80s but underwent significant development in the few short years they were active. After releasing the scrappy Dance for Your Dinner 12" and collaborating with post-punk child prodigy Chandra on her Transportation EP in 1980, the Dance released their first full-length album, In Lust, in 1981, combining the liquid art funk of downtown Manhattan peers like Bush Tetras or DNA with unexpected musical touches from lead vocalist Eugenie Diserio's haunted organ (and occasional violin) and dissonant riffing from Steve Alexander's 12-string guitar.

The tempos are speedy and the energy is charged on tracks like "Surrogate for Hate" and the hypnotically grooving title track. "Networking the World" has a crowded rhythm that staggers along in a druggy stupor, and there are goth undercurrents on slower tracks like "Survive Another Day" and the tense "Relax and Be Romantic." This era of the Dance fits in perfectly among better-known bands that rose out of the N.Y.C. downtown scene of their day, like the Contortions, ESG, or the Lounge Lizards, adding to that vibrantly creative time with their own unique vision of the world's most paranoid dance party. Anyone already a fan of Chandra's Transportation will want to seek out In Lust, as the instrumentation and general approach is similarly styled and executed, only with Diserio's provocative and sometimes sexually themed lyrics substituting a more adult worldview for Chandra's pre-teen, post-punk musings.

 Sensual Post-Punk Funk! Emerging at the turn of the decade from punk's three-chord nihilism, The Dance brings a free-wheeling, jagged, dissonant art-funk stomp you can't help but move your body to! This first ever US release is pressed on colored vinyl!

A New York based early 80's No Wave band that spun off from The Model Citizens after one EP produced by John Cale while other old band-mates formed Polyrock. Material's Fred Maher joined them on drums for some recordings. The band was fronted by Eugenie Diserio, known for her sexy homemade fashion designs and her sultry voice that often played off suggestive lyrics.