Those Dancing Days - The Barfly, London - 1/2/08
4/5
By: Michael Cragg
I know you can become a born again Christian, but is there any way to become a born again Swede? I only ask because they all seem to be so goddam cool and healthy looking. I once made the grave mistake of going to Stockholm and had to walk around with my head bowed in shame in case anyone saw the bags under my eyes or my Primark t-shirt. So, it was with an over-arching feeling of self-loathing that I shuffled down to Camden to brace the cold but hopefully be warmed by some Swedish pop.
Those Dancing Days are made up of five young women; all aged between seventeen and nineteen. Having caused a minor stir with last years eponymous debut single, they're about to cause a bigger one with the motown-meets-eighties follow-up 'Hitten'. Signed to indie label Wichita, they're poised to be one of the bands to look out for this year, once they've finished their exams of course.
At about 1am the band leap from nowhere onto the stage, a blur of hair and colour. The tiny stage can barely hold them all and Mimmi Evrell's bass comes close to swiping singer Linnea Jonsson on a couple of occasions. Having only released two singles and with no time to record the album (bloody school!), the set is short and sweet, kicking off with '1000 Words' adrenalised rush.
Unfortunately, the sound doesn't do the band justice and in-between the carefree dancing and permanent smiles there are various hand signals in the direction of the sound engineer. The worst casualty is Jonsson's voice, an instrument on record that can be simultaneously joyous and heartbroken, but here can barely be heard at all. It doesn't stop them of course, and 'Dischoe' (sic) and 'Tasty Boy' are rattled off in no time. The latter is particularly great, Jonsson relishing the chorus of "You taste like strawberry ice cream/ Soft and smooth"; while during the break down the band line-up for some well-rehearsed finger clicks (think The Pipettes, but less arch).
Clearly aware of how to play to their strengths, they end the set with the two singles. 'Hitten' comes first and causes a minor riot down the front; its simple guitar line and keyboard riff descending around Jonsson's plaintive lyrics. It's the kind of perfect pop song you'd dance to with a tear in your eye, probably at a school disco. 'Those Dancing Days' ends proceedings on a disco high, the band clearly enjoying themselves. And then that's it; time to go back into the cold night, back on the bus with all the drunks. I know it can't be all rosy for the Swedes but from what we saw tonight, it looks pretty damn close.
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