And We Danced: Back To The Middle

Artist: And We Danced
Title: Back To The Middle
Format Reviewed: MP3
Format Released: 1st July 2014
Reviewed By: Dan Stoten

There's nothing better than being picked up by a song and carried along in the eddies the music creates. It seems Minneapolis quartet And We Danced have perfected the art of this and condensed it into a five-track EP, entitled Back To The Middle. This is a catchy collection of seven tracks which are damned hard to stop listening to.

Opener Intro is just that, doing exactly what it says on the tin, introducing the listener to the musical style And We Danced have. There's no vocal here, but the track builds nicely, edging closer to a rousing crescendo which crashes and pours from the speakers. From there, we flow into The Ring, hearing Zaq's vocal for the first time. Treading a line between Jimmy Eat World and various punk bands, it's impassioned and gritty, yet also has smoothness which sits beautifully with the backing vocal and rounded guitar chords. There's nothing unique here at all, but it's good music done well, the chorus in particular feeling very well constructed and catchy. It's one which sticks in your head.

Goodnight Toronto comes up next, a track which certainly sits towards the 'rock' end of the spectrum. It's a nicely rounded track again, one which wouldn't sound out of place in arena settings, with it's big, soaring choruses and carefully controlled limits. Slightly more raspy vocal from Zaq adds an edge but this one does tend to blend somewhat into the background.

The EP's title track comes next. It's a slow-burner, but when it catches fire, it really catches fire. This is another arena-suiting song, with the huge and multi-layered production soaring and flowing beautifully. Starting off almost peacefully, the song develops and builds as it goes on. There's clearly an emotional link here for the band, with the raw feeling pumping through the song underlining this.

For me, though, the absolute highlight on this record is the final track. She Makes Me She Breaks Me is a truly brilliant song, the pop-punk energy ebbing through it combined with the angst-ridden lyrics adds up to a brilliant pop-punk song, something which stands out due to the more controlled nature of the rest of the record. This feels like the band letting their hair down, letting loose, and is all the better for that. It's a brilliant track.

Overall, this is an incredibly well constructed record of catchy songs, which while not pushing the envelope, offers good music done very well. And sometimes, that's more than enough.