Preview: Middle Distance Runner & The Dance Party
Tomorrow night, two of DCist's favorite bands are taking the Black Cat's main stage by storm. What kind of storm? Well if it's anything like what we've seen from these guys in the past, it'll be a storm of hilarity, energy, and very fancy hair. Because these two bands feature some serious characters with some serious personalities, we asked them to "review" each other's new albums — The Dance Party's Friction! Friction! Friction!, which is now available through Dischord, and Middle Distance Runner's new EP that's being released all fresh and fancy at this Saturday's show. If you're wondering why "review" is in quotation marks, the answer will become apparent pretty quickly as you take a look at what Ian Glinka and Mick Coogan had to say about each other's work.
Mick Coogan on MDR's new EP
As the nation again plummets into the throes of moral and economic depression, we here at The Dance Party will conduct a cost-based analysis of the splendid new Middle Distance Runner EP — released THIS SATURDAY AT THE BLACK CAT!
Track 1
"She-goat"
Twee-core at it's finest. Stephen Kiljoy's soaring yodel perfectly compliments Allan Chandelier's frenetic twee riffage. Somebody's also playing bass and drums. This homage to the Scandinavian gypsy lifestyle marks a sharp departure from MDR's early pop leanings. Clocking in at just under 12 minutes, this epic will have the listener begging for more!
Value: Moderate
Track 2
"Naturally"
The band boldly chooses to cover one of their previously released songs. Isn't it ironic, don't you think?
Value: Low
Track 3
"She-goat" (The Dance Party Remix)
We were honored when the boys asked us to remix "She-goat." We started by emphasizing the most powerful aspect of the original--the outro. We also removed the vocals for a more natural aesthetic. Then, we removed most of the other instrumentation. The kick-drum heavy remix clocks in at a thrifty 1:15 and leaves the listener begging for more!
Value: High
Overall Value: Moderate
There you have it! You'll have two choices at Black Cat on Saturday--the new MDR EP, or The Dance Party's new LP "Friction! Friction! Friction!" Full of driving rhythms, soaring harmonies, and bodacious guitar solos, the new Dance Party record (www.thedanceparty.net) is a smart buy. A Dance Party fan once rolled over and told me, "The Dance Party is like a lick on the back of the neck at 3am." Agreed! See you Saturday!
The Dance Party
Ian Glinka's on Friction! Friction! Friction!
Middle Distance Runner reviews the new Dance Party CD:
The new Dance Party album sucks. It's soooooo bad. Like — the kind of bad that when it's happening, you're like "oh fuck, that is some bad fucking shit!" It's like when you are watching Congo ... and you're just like "what the fuck? Did they just run out of money halfway through making this and totally give up or something?"
There's just no excuse, really. If the morons in the Dance Party tried a little harder on their album, it could have been like our new EP (you know ... good). If they maybe took a moment and added some tambourines, or some harmonies or maybe some WORDS instead of just going "blah blah blah we suck who cares" on every song ... maybe if they were more like another band -- say, Middle Distance Runner, for example -- maybe then their new album would be a little bit more bearable and worth a damn.
Honestly, they should have just let us write and record it for them. Hopefully they will learn their lesson some day. Idiots.
On the inverse, our new EP (released Saturday, October 20th at the Black Cat), does all the things the Dance Party never learned how to do in the first place. We recorded three new songs, and we even went back and re-recorded a few songs from our first album for some reason.
Just kidding. We love the Dance Party... and if we actually had a copy of their new album to listen to, I'm sure we wouldn't completely hate it. We don't like them enough to capitalize the "the" in their name, though. Actually, now that we think about it, they can go fuck themselves. Just kidding again!! Haha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
Signed,
The unnaturally attractive gentlemen of the band named Middle Distance Runner
Photo of Ian Glinka by Casey Collings