FRIENDLY FIRES

Panic at the disco

By LUKE O’NEIL

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It wasn't so long ago that dancing to rock music wasn't obligatory. During an obscure period known as the '90s, a wave of stasis struck rock fans throughout the world. Independent rock as we knew it then was more about chin stroking, or, on rare occasions, a practice termed "moshing." Ask your history professor. Shit was weird.

Of course, some genius around the turn of the century happened upon the relics of a bygone age known as the '80s. Back then, they had things called new wave and post punk, where people used guitars and drums to get people dancing. Next thing you know, we're locked tight in the pocket of a new decade of four-on-the-floor and high-hat beats and warbling crooners trying to hit the high notes while doing aerobics onstage.

Friendly Fires are the latest UK rock band to suckle from that historically fertile, dance-powered teat. Dance rock, new wave, disco rock, whatever. It's chiming synths and bouncy basslines from a band that sounds like they spent a lot of time listening to The Cure, along with plenty of German techno, '80s NYC post punk and the haze of shoegaze.

It wasn't always that way, says singer Ed MacFarlane on the phone from Prague: "We were really into more avant-garde and experimental music." Post rock? Yikes. That didn't last though. "It got to the point where we said, 'What is the music that we really like?' And what we like is a catchy melody."

No shortage of those on their self-titled debut. But more importantly, you can dance to it. Especially if you're listening to their breakout single, "Paris"—a controlled explosion of percussion, bells, snares, toms and the essential hand claps. The music sounds like the charged-up house beat playing in Club Wherever, circa whenever. "Our music definitely has a dance influence," he says. "But I don't think that's the be all and end all. I prefer to think of it as romantic music, or epic. Dance is at the core of what we're about, but we're not just a party band. We're a bit more than that."

Indeed. On "Paris," the smooth vocal of the verse contrasted with the soaring chorus illustrates the point. It charges the entire set with a grandeur and a layered beauty more akin to pedal-wanking shoegaze than generic thump. "The kind of dance music I like the most is more accessible dance music." Music, he says, that you can dance to and have an emotional connection with.

Trace the same pattern on the songs "White Diamonds" or "Jump in the Pool." It's as if the band pauses midway through a song, amidst the beat push and finger snaps and cowbell, to catch their breath, then get caught up gazing longingly at the clouds. Oh, and look, that's a pretty sunset, isn't it? There's emotion in the details, and the ache of the vocals. But before too long, here comes the beat again. And the drums. The drums. The drums.

FRIENDLY FIRES

WITH WHITE LIES

AND THE SOFT PACK

SATURDAY 3.28.09

PARADISE ROCK CLUB

967 COMM. AVE., BOSTON

617.562.8800

8PM/18+/$15

THEDISE.COM

WEAREFRIENDLYFIRES.COM