Purple Sneakers - We Mix,You Dance

Wed 2nd Jun, 2010 in Music Reviews

Attention Indie kids! Dig out those stripes, ironic glasses and paint pastel knitwear and crank your speakers up to eleven because the time is ripe to party, party with those cool cats from Purple Sneakers.

Now that they’ve released the compilation album, We Mix, You Dance, Sydney’s favourite indie club night has had its best elements turned into one heck of an answer to Jive Bunny, triple j and the Hacienda.

If God is a DJ then these messianic figures are also known as PhDj ( Martin Novosel to his mum and Boundary Sounds CEO to others); Ben Lucid (AKA the mash-up wiz); and M.I.T (the stage-diving and animal costume-loving one). These guys typically mix, mash and multiply into the wee hours of the weekend creating a house party atmosphere from red hot dance floor anthems and raw rock in the form of guitar-based indie music.

This collection kicks off with none other than Vampire Weekend singing about familial relationships. This is then blended with the kind of song that would not be out of place on an episode of Skins. From here we are served catchy rhythms with excellent fusion by Amanda Black before the weighty lisztomania of: Phoenix, Hot Chip, Animal Collective, Art vs. Science and Friendly Fires. The special order of the day is electro pop and indie rock via afrobeats with all the bases covered.

The compilation’s sounds seem to belong inside its former spiritual home at the Abercrombie Hotel but the reality is that it also wouldn’t be out of place in the trendier Oxford Art Factory thanks to the coolness factor it exudes.

Mixing may not be rocket science but this is one damn subtle art. These guys are so adept at twiddling the old knobs and do so with so much panache and clever irony that this seamless mix comes across as having been effortlessly executed. The fact is that most people take this kind of thing for granted because it’s so good and it’s only when things turn ugly that people notice and object by clearing the floor.

We Mix, You Dance boasts plenty of cheeky synth, dirty guitars and on the money beats from a drum machine with so much of it reaching the target you’ll get the big kahuna of bullseyes.