"We saw new dances like `The Freeze' and `The Achy Breaky' spreading like an epidemic in country dance halls," the members of Brave Combo write in the liner notes to their new album,
Group Dance Epidemic. "Then terpsichorean plague struck--`The Macarena.' No one was spared, not even the vice president of the United States." Does Brave Combo, the polka-rock band from Texas, object to these developments? No, they love it. They are fervent evangelists for the democratizing and uplifting values of group dances, no matter how corny (plus it gives them more work). Thus the album features a dozen songs that have been dance-floor-tested for group participation, and the CD booklet comes with dance instructions for each.
"The Freeze," "The Achy Breaky," and "The Macarena" are not included, but Van McCoy's disco classic, "The Hustle," is. Most of the others belong to an earlier age when dancers bent their knees and backs to do the "Limbo Rock," flapped their elbows to the "Chicken Dance," shuffled their soles to the "Mexican Hat Dance," and waved their hands over their heads for "The Hokey Pokey." This is not the sort of album you'll want to sit around and listen to, but if you're having friends over to the house and you're afraid they're going to talk about the federal budget, you might want to put this on.
Because Brave Combo is a bohemian band from Austin, these songs have two layers. At the forefront of the mix, the tune and beat are strong and clear, but in the background, secondary beats and jazzy embellishments are complicating things. The band's approach is reflected in their notes for "The Bunny Hop:" "Cute dance for children or modern fertility rite? That's the same thing, isn't it? This version features an Aboriginal dronepipe (the didgeridoo) and quotations from Peter Cottontail and Duke Ellington's `Cottontail.'" --Geoffrey Himes
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