Dancehall

Few bands are as capable of being as direct and effective as Dancehall. Too clean for grunge, too noisy for pop. The London-based trio run on egoless ambition which has seen the band relentlessly self-release a collection of singles bristling with distorted energy on their own Vibe/Anti-Vibe label.

The three-piece, consisting of Tim Smithen (bass/vocals), Craig Sharp (guitars) and Dave Keeler (drums) first met over a decade ago when Sharp was (admittedly) fanboying over Smithen's previous band. Eventually their paths crossed in London and the result of their first songwriting session with Keeler was rapidly productive — a habit the band have kept up ever since.

Since the band's formation they have received support and praise from BBC 6 Music's Tom Ravenscroft, bumped heads on Spotify-curated playlists for UK Post Punk and Six String guitar finds, with their low-budget self-recorded music videos leading to Clash Music calling them "heroes of London's DIY underground scene". Eventually leading them to touring Europe, playing Rough Trade's 40th Anniversary festival and recording their second album with members of MGMT producing.

Dancehall work completely collaboratively, each member bringing ideas together to create a sound that represents a wide range of their musical heroes — a wild mix of Jarvis Cocker and Lou Reed vocal stylings, DIY post-hardcore of Fugazi, the harnessed noise of Sonic Youth, the driving melancholy of LCD Soundsystem and the less-cited catchy balladry of the B-52s and Blur.

The manifesto of Dancehall: "just sing 2 notes and play 3 notes" commits the band to a minimal and unpretentious framework which they work within to create colourful, bold, songs with tongue-in-cheek lyrics which combine to push the band beyond their roots, out of their damp practice room into something more ambitious and promising than their peers.

The uncertainty of lockdown only confirmed the feelings of all members to the band, Dancehall is seen as something as a necessary for each member, piling themselves atop of more and more home demos. One of the tightest live acts on the road, when the road is open, are ready and waiting.

Presented by Love Thy Neighbour.

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