As I went up the steps to the Dance Party show at the Black Cat, I could hear the noise pouring out of the swinging doors. The stairwell echoed with shrill cheers of teenage girls, like a bygone episode of TRL. Instead of a Carson Daily or hot pop singer, lead singer Mick Coogan stood his ground in a bright lime green shirt. He thrust his guitar to and fro, shaking furiously onstage and delivering incomprehensible lyrics in a fit of epileptic proportions. Lead guitarist Kevin Bayly danced his fingers across his guitar as he leaned towards Mick in anticipation.

Working the crowd into jumping, flailing and laughing frenzy, The Dance Party hit their stride with “Nintendo Power,” a power chord ballad of distorted guitars and punchy drums. The minute-long buildup was tight, adorned with Mick’s thin, itchy vocals and an evocative lyrical collage of spaceships, consuming paper in dreams, and apocalypse. Dance Party climaxed with an endless refrain over Mick’s declaring “Days I never wasted! It's midnite and we're wasted!”

Free of the guitar, Frontman Mick went crazy. “Daniel LaRusso is Gonna Fight” channeled the Romones’s punk; Mick slung lyrics so well he was almost rapping. Running around the stage during the chorus, jumping up and down and provoking the audience to “bring it,” Coogan looked like the last frontman I had seen at the Black Cat – Nic Offer of !!!. Like Offer, Coogan is a musical athlete: furious, adversarial and intensely physical. Coogan is the medium for the intensity and energy The Dance Party brings. The pounding music may move you, but Coogan is the focal point onstage.

Also prone to classic on-stage antics, Coogan danced with his shirt off, ran his hands over his body, snuggled up to the lead guitarist in the midst of the heavy playing and laid a wet one on his cheek. The rhythm section is strong, but the song writing could be tighter. Mick’s potency at the helm of The Dance Party will only get stronger with more catchy hooks and avoiding the occasional overpowering rumble of bass on their synth-styled sound.

Visit Them at: http://www.myspace.com/thedanceparty

See Them Next: at Iota September 8th with Washington Social Club and Run Silent Run Deep

Questions for The Dance Party:

How did you get started playing music?

Kevin: I listened to the Prince Batman album when I was 7 and thought – that was the shit. That and Poison's "Unskinny Bop." So I begged my parents for a guitar.

Danny: I always had wicked air guitar skills and I decided to switch to an actual instrument.

Mick: My first favorite band was Public Enemy, I would mow lawns and put a tape in. Kevin and I went to Gonzaga. Gonzaga kids turned me on to Bob Dylan. I really got into the song "Girl From North Country" – I was like, I can play that song. So I just started.

Jeff: I played trombone in a ska band called The Skacoholics in high school. My dad is a musician and I've been into music.

How did you guys get started as a band?

Danny: We've always gone to a ton of shows in DC and we all had a musical background so we decided to form a band.

Mick: Yeah, we started playing parties and then clubs. Then, Kevin joined the band after about a year to fill out our sound.

Jeff: We bought a $200 drum set on Ebay and taught ourselves how to play in our friend's garage.

Kevin: I had moved back to DC and I heard their demos and I wanted to get involved.

When was the turning point for you as a band?

Mick: I think when Kevin joined the band things really changed. We began to develop more as a band and the energy level went up. Also, we performed at PGpalooza (July 4th 2004). It was great, this bar in college park – we blew it up – we promoted hard. There were 400 people there and we'd never played that many people.

Danny: When our first EP came out – The Dance Party EP – people started taking notice. The City Paper and local bloggers gave us kind reviews and more people started coming out to our shows.

Jeff: Our CD release with Washington Social Club in February. Everything has been getting better since that show – cooler shows and more people have been coming out.

Kevin: Since I wasn't around at the beginning, I jumped into the middle of things. The recording process for the EP and working with Drew Doucette really brought us together. He made us sound better and made us take more risks than we would have. We pushed each other to become a better band.

How's college park as a music scene?

Drew (in studio): There actually used to be a music scene in College Park. There was a place called Joe's Movement Emporium that had cool shows. It was cool because it was an all-ages place. People weren't old enough to check out the DC shows so the kids blew the place up.

Jeff: There is no music scene in College Park. There are a few bars that have live shows but they are mostly cover bands.

Mick: There's not much of a scene in College Park. The University of Maryland radio station--WMUC--does a lot to promote local music. They put on free shows and expose a lot of different area acts.

Danny: Other than WMUC, you have to set up your own shows. We played a lot of house parties. DC was the primary goal as far as shows go, but we get a lot of support from our fans and friends at our initial house parties.

Kevin: There's not much of a scene for live music; it's mostly for cover bands – this is expected in a college town. WMUC has been very generous in their support. We've still had the opportunity to play some cool shows. We played for a couple hundred kids at a Halloween party on campus.

You guys are not part of the indie scene, but are connected by influences and venues. What is that relationship like?

Mick: We are really cognizant of the scene – the DC9 scene, the U St scene. Our focus has been to put together cool bills and rock shows.

Danny: We don't live in the confines of DC, but we play the majority of our shows there. We've played a ton of cool shows in the city and made friends with some great bands.

Kevin: I don't know that we're not part of the scene. Mick and I went to high school in DC. We grew up in DC and that's where we go to shows and bars. I go to grad school in DC. It's familiar for us.

Drew (producer): They don't necessarily fit in to the scene because they are not as serious and they are more about the rock and roll lifestyle. Their only agenda is really having fun.

How is promoting your band?

Kevin: It's easy. We put up fliers all over town, go to rock shows and hand out CDs. We leave our CDs around town for people to check out. We try to put our music in as many people's hands as possible.

Jeff: We go to a bunch of shows and give out free cds.

Danny: Myspace and Pure Volume plays a big part in our promotion. We put our songs out for free download and try to connect with as many people as possible.

Mick: We have this huge group of friends who come to our shows, even when we go to NYC they go up with us. Friends love to come go to our shows and get bonkers.

We are lucky to know some great bands around town that have hooked us up with some cool shows. We try to book shows with killer bands so that anyone who comes will have a blast. This is the key element when we promote a show.

Are you based in College Park?

Kevin: We all live in PG County and we practice in Adelphi. It's a central location for us.

How did the relationship with your producer (Drew Doucette of Beauty Pill) begin?
Drew: I've been friends and collaborators with John Beckham for a long time. He told me about The Dance Party and that they needed a producer and we hooked up.

Mick: A buddy of ours, John Beckham, who played in a cool DC indie band called Gift to the Greedy, introduced us to Drew when we were looking to record our EP.

Kevin: Drew's from PG County too and we have a lot in common with him. He has a great musical and production background and we really clicked.

Have you ever gotten so crazy that you lose control, your grip on the show?

Kevin: We ended up playing one night at 2am at Velvet Lounge. We were hammered and barely keeping shit together. I think I broke strings on three guitars. I was so pissed and caught up that I smashed one of my guitars on stage. It was my coolest rock and roll moment. Rob from Velvet was nice enough to let us keep playing.

Jeff: I went to the University of Maryland homecoming football game and started drinking at 10am. I went to a bar and had about 85 shots. I blacked-out midday and passed out. Mick dragged me to the show and I was so fucked up that I had no idea what I was doing. It was great.

Danny: I had a habit for a while of throwing my bass across the stage at the end of the set because I would get so into the shows – until I busted Kevin in the head with my guitar.

Kevin: I was bleeding all over the place but it was cool because my hair looked punk-rock pink for the rest of the night.

Mick: The goal of our shows is to bring the music to the absolute breaking point. If we can do that, then the audience flips the fuck out and that's my absolute favorite part about being in a band. I've often sang in the audience or jumped in to dance. I tackled Kevin once and somebody stole his shoes.

Many people have commented on the difficulty of 21 and over shows at DC-area venues. As your music really speaks to youth and is received by young people, is that a significant hurdle?

Jeff: We'd like the opportunity to play more all-ages venues because kids really dig our music.

Danny: I don't think that not playing all-ages shows has really affected us. But it would be nice if there were more venues for our underage fans.

Kevin: When I was in high school, Phantasmagoria was packed every weekend with punk bands and I miss the opportunity to play for that kind of crowd that wants to hear cool music.

Mick: Other than the Black Cat, there aren't many venues for kids. I was really excited about the Black Cat show because all these kids would ask us on myspace "when's your next all ages show?" and we could say, "come to this one." It was really cool to see all the young kids freaking out at the Black Cat show. I think the kids don't have any pre-conceptions and at shows they just go crazy.

The opening riff on "Nintendo Power" sounds very similar to The Strokes’ "Take it or Leave it." There are other moments like this on The Dance Party EP. Were you guys heavily influenced by them or some common predecessor?

Kevin: My influences are Reb Beach, the guitarist for Winger, Third Eye Blind, Smashing Pumpkins, The Strokes, and The Police. I also look up to my cousin Bill Bayly because he can play the fuck out of the guitar.

Jeff: I grew to listening to the Pumpkins, Death Cab, The Strokes, and I love the drummer from Bloc Party. Jimmy Chamberlain is my all-time favorite drummer. His style got me into drumming.

Danny: In all seriousness, I'm really into The Cars, The Go-Go's, Rick Springfield, and all that 80's pop.

Mick: I've been listening to a lot of pop stuff recently. I'm digging the new Nelly Furtado and I've been listening to old Michael Jackson. I dig Prince. I grew up on the Cure, Radiohead, and the Pumpkins.

Mick, you speak about shows, setting them up and promoting with intensity. The Dance Party has clearly put a lot of work into a strong live show. How does recording compare?

Danny: We are actually answering these questions in the studio. We're recording our next EP as we speak. We try to put as much energy into our songs as we can and hopefully it comes across in our recordings and our live show.

Kevin: The recording is where all the work is put in. The live show is just fun. It's a chance to flip out and party.

Mick: The live show is what it's all about. It's loud and hot and people are moving and the energy is flowing. Recording is very tedious but we get along really well so it's just a matter of patience. The new shit is pretty cool.

I thought it was funny and cute when you (Mick) kissed Kevin on the cheek. Did you guys plan that? Was he surprised? Do you guys try to shock each other on stage?

Mick: Kevin just needs a hug sometimes. Or a kiss. He just needs to feel loved. It's like "I love you friend. We were doing this for shits and giggles 6 months ago, and now we are about to rip shit up in ten seconds."

Kevin: I think Mick has a secret crush on me.

Danny: I'm not quite sure how to answer this question, but I wish somebody would give me a hug.