Pop music makes for strange bedfellows. Beyond the more literal expressions of this principle – frequently facilitated by an artfully selected mix-tape – pop history is filled with unions of seemingly mismatched artists, like Jimi Hendrix briefly touring with The Monkees or Def-Jam co-founder Rick Rubin producing an album for Neil Diamond. At the less famous end of this continuum stand veteran Manchester bands The Buzzcocks and Dislocation Dance.
While the more eclectic sound of Dislocation Dance was a sharp contrast to the Buzzcocks’ spikier approach, the former group found an early home with New Hormones, a record label founded by the Buzzcocks’ manager and band members Howard Devoto and Pete Shelley.
The label began as a vehicle to release the Buzzcocks’ first record, Spiral Scratch, and after the band signed to a larger label, it became a platform for releases by other Manchester artists. Dislocation Dance had been active in the city’s music scene for two years before releasing their first EP. Though the band played early gigs at famed Manchester club The Factory, they opted not to sign with club owner Tony Wilson’s Factory Records – home of Joy Division, among others – in favor of New Hormones.
They refined their sound on their 1981 EP Slip That Disc! And the full-length album Music Music Music the same year. This approach, which founding member Paul Emmerson described as “laid back and swingy”, brought them good reviews and modest commercial success, the nexus of which was being voted “most likely to succeed” in a 1983 poll in UK magazine Smash Hits.
By this point, Dislocation Dance had moved to Rough Trade Records, but the larger label was more focused on a band that their former label had been unable to sign due to financial issues, The Smiths. The band splintered as the decade progressed and ultimately disbanded in 1987; timing that ironically coincided with groups displaying a similar aesthetic like The Blow Monkeys and Swing Out Sister having hits on both sides of the Atlantic. A 1999 release of sessions recorded for BBC radio led to a reunion tour and eventually a new album in 2005.
Their latest album, Road To Happiness, was released January 24th on Marina Records, an independent label that’s been home to numerous UK cult favorites such as The Pearlfishers and The Bathers since the 1990s.
Though Paul Emmerson did not rejoin the group, the current incarnation – led by his fellow founder, vocalist/guitarist Ian Runacres, and longtime member Phil Lukes – offers an appealing continuity of sound. The New Musical Express called their fusion of new-wave, funk, French chansons, and jazz “the real mutant disco”, a summation that holds true on Road To Happiness. The record opens with the infectious tandem of “I Just Need a Friend” and the title song, and while the emphasis is on upbeat tracks, the easygoing “Incurable Romantic” and “It’s Not True” ensure variety.
Coming after the pulsing instrumental “What The Funk (Theme),” “It’s All True” closes the album on a reflective note. There’s an undertone of sadness, but the song is multi-dimensional, tugging at both the heart and mind.
Despite the contrast with most of the tracks preceding it, in this respect, the song exemplifies Dislocation Dance’s approach. When so much current pop music confuses production for songcraft, the second chances given to Dislocation Dance and other 1980s cult favorites are especially welcome. The joy their music offers, even on their sadder songs, is even more pleasing.
-Don Klees
Fair use image of Road to Happiness
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