I’ll be honest – the name We Don’t Dance To Love Songs conjures up really bad preconceptions of a band that wears neon clothing, throws in silly synth loops into their songs and is probably in it for the girls rather than the music. Sorry guys. But as the adage says ‘never judge a book by it’s cover’ and the same goes for WDDTLS who sound like The Maple State if they went down the pure pop route following that first EP. This is a four-tracker that defies expectations (if you had any). It contains four songs that will have you singing along in an instant – even if you don’t want to.
Let’s rewind. WDDTLS hail from Hull, which I can actually see from my kitchen (for those interested Hull and my house are separated by a river and a bridge, I live on the south side, known to be the nicer side. Ahem). They’ve not been a band all that long but have released a few demos which have gained them a few fans in the locality. They’re not a huge band by any means, but that could possibly change. The band play a brand of jangly indie-pop that’s quite clearly inspired by modern day pop-punk bands, but still has a little something different to it. It’s not groundbreaking, don’t get me wrong, but it’s really fun and really catchy. They gave me the same chills as the first time I heard The Maple State and while the two bands aren’t copycats by any means, they have the same musical swagger and same sense of a good time.
Even when the band drift slightly away from indie-cool towards cheap and tacky pop-punk they manage to salvage songs with absolutely massive choruses. ‘I Think I Prefer Both’ has this huge, huge hook that manages to rescue a slightly wavering opening. The track could have gone one of two ways; either down the crappy generic pop route or come back with this massive chorus. And WDDTLS nail it with the latter, throwing in choppy drums and a catchy riff. Fancy a singalong? I dare you not to be shouting along with the gang vocals by the end of your first listen.
‘The View from 32’ is a cracker too, just a really good, good-time pop song. And that’s what these Hull boys do so well. There’s no lazy fashionista rip-offs and no minute wasted. This EP is four sub-3mins 30second blasts of pure catchy fun. And if they keep this up they’ll be blazing a trail across the UK in no time.