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Sep 12, 2014 Ballet School By Austin Trunick

Vocalist Rosie Blair made a firm statement on her label’s homepage: Ballet School is “not a synth band.” She clarifies that they’re a guitar band interested in pushing their setup and, in turn, producing what amounts to a singular mainstream/indie pop music hybrid. It’s easy to hear where a kneejerk oversimplification like “synth band” would come from: on surface level, Ballet School’s classical New Wave leanings are immediately prevalent. Pull away these gossamer strands and you’ll pick up on influences from a wider scope of intelligent 1980s pop, from Blondie to The Cure to Kate Bush to Cocteau Twins—the latter perhaps most appropriate, as the band is signed to Simon Raymonde’s Bella Union label.

The Berlin three-piece has two premiere resources at their disposal. Their first is a talent for engrossing, romantic soundscapes; their second is Blair’s impressively flexible vocal range. Whether it’s supplying a spunky drive to a song such as “Pale Saint” (where we hear some Missing Persons, down to Dale Bozzio’s signature vocal squeaks) or transcending scales in “All Things Return at Night,” her voice is a weapon Ballet School smartly knows how to maximize. Account for a handful of massive pop hooks—both “Heartbeat Overdrive” and “Cherish” will be essential mixtape material—and The Dew Lasts An Hour is a record that’s very easy to become smitten with. (www.balletschoolband.com)

Author rating: 7.5/10