Music Review: No Time For Dance by Pulled Up!

Fresh on the Brighton scene, Pulled up! Have recently released their debut single No Time For Dance. Experimentation with genre and enthusiastic live sets are to be expected from this post-punk outfit. “We like to bring a little more than just our songs to our gigs, like inviting on stage extra musicians from other bands or the audience. We think gigs should be memorable experiences.”

Who are Pulled Up!?

“Pulled Up! bring together a mix of different ingredients for their post-punk output. Their new wave ethos is to always encourage freedom of experimentation in creativity, which is best realised in their enthusiastic live sets, no two of which have ever been the same. Sometimes teaming up with extra musicians from other bands on the scene, their shows are guaranteed to please those who enjoy rhythmic and expressive live music. For fans of Talking Heads, Hot Chip, Austerity, Delta 5, and more.”

My instant reaction to No Time For Dance was that it’s the type of song that you would hear in the opening scene of a film. The song has a subtle cinematic feel to it, which honestly are my favourite type of songs.

Tom Bakers’ vocals have a wonderful smooth tone, which is what makes No Time For Dance a great and easy listen. It is definitely the type of song that you can put on for some easy listening, something that a lot of people probably need right now.

I think my favourite part of this release is definitely the guitar sound. Its bright, uplifting tone gives No Time For Dance a vibrant feel which contrasts the lyrics well. The guitar sound is one of the most important factors for me when it comes to making a great song, something that I would say that Pulled Up! have done well. It gives what could have been a sombre sounding song a carefree edge.

The lyrics of this song were not something that I initially gave much thought, however on a second listen it seems that they have an underlying story which now gives my carefree comment from before a different meaning. The lyrics are about knowing your history and how that factors into your creativity. They are the type of lyrics that you can see parts of yourself or others you know reflected in words.

Although not claiming to be from a working-class background, but having it be a big part of his family history, Tom Baker has touched on the fact that the song is almost a call for those who are to take pride in where they are from. “I think it’s important that people with that background feel pride in it. Hence the line ‘I never worked in factories, but I know people who do’. People from all backgrounds have creative personalities and we’re so fortunate to be able to express ourselves safely”. It is stories like this that make songs go from good to great. The fact that many can relate to the lyrics gives No Time For Dance an extra edge that does not seem apparent from your first listen, however, will be when you really take in the lyrics.

The carefree comment from before now takes on more of a prideful aspect. This is not something that I would have initially picked up on but is now quite apparent to me after asking Tom about their meaning.

No Time For Dance is a lot more complex story-wise than the sound of the song would first make you think. However, this does not mean that the song is heavy in tone, it is quite the opposite actually.