Hailing from the suburbs of Stockholm, Sweden, Those Dancing Days are the latest in a long line of all-girl groups trying to make a dent on the pop charts. Although they’ve gotten raves from the likes of NME and even scored a nomination for Best Swedish Act at the 2007 MTV Europe Music Awards, the telegenic fivesome is basically unknown Stateside … for now. The group is currently in the midst of a very brief, buzz-building U.S. tour, which included one date at Los Angeles hipster haunt Spaceland and two stops here in New York City. But based on the way the crowd at the Mercury Lounge last night responded to their brand of infectious, Hammond-organ-infused, Northern Soul–influenced indie pop, we’re very confident that you’ll be hearing (and seeing) a lot more of them in the future.
We know the music industry is in shambles these days, but that really shouldn’t stop some Svengali type from snatching these girls up and turning them into huge stars on either MTV or the CW (they’re currently signed to Wichita Recordings in the U.K.). Whereas the Donnas were ultimately done in by their decision to position themselves as a band that is best appreciated ironically, Those Dancing Days have already started crafting an aesthetic that should prevent them from being pigeonholed as some sort of a novelty act (see: The Pipettes). Not only do they write and perform their own material, but each band member has a look that seems perfectly positioned to appeal to different sets of potential fans (kind of like a non-manufactured version of the Spice Girls, come to think of it): Lead singer Linnea Jönsson is glam, keyboardist Lisa Pyk Wirström is a bouncy (and newly blonde) Veronica Mars type, drummer Cissi Efraimsson is a virtual Energizer bunny behind the kit, and so on and so forth. Oh, and did we mention the music? Their stuff has been streamed on MySpace over 1.6 million times, and they’re also about to cross the million-listens barrier on LastFM. Here’s a lo-fi video from their energetic performance last night of their biggest hit to date, the appropriately titled “Hitten” (which, translated from Swedish, means “The Hit”).
Those Dancing Days will also be performing at Union Hall in Brooklyn on Thursday, May 28.
