The Narcoleptic Dancers - Never Sleep

Dainty and lovely, The Narcoleptic Dancers are not afraid to wear their dulcet hearts on their sleeves. Even their seemingly farfetched biography is playfully “cute.” Dutch Anton Louis Jr and French Melody Van Kappers are half- siblings fathered by lank haired seventies footballer Johnny Van Kappers aka the Narcoleptic Dancer. The pair first met at a party honouring papa Van Kappers. Eventually they formed The Narcoleptic Dancers a year later at their father’s funeral - their ridiculously long fringes supposedly modelled on their dad’s own barnet.

It is convenient because collectively their songs are not as imaginative as their backdrop. Repetitive acoustic strums and structures recycle throughout ‘Never Sleep’s 14 tracks, whilst the minimalist ‘Again and Again’ and ‘Little Clown’ are its blandest moments. Dismissing it creatively as a whole denies each track of their individual catchiness though. ‘Rastakraut’ is a Feist hit, the ‘Coffee & TV’ like ‘Life Goes On’ is the album’s most addictive moment, and ‘Not Evident’ breezes with Slow Club folk twangs.

If you found Slow Club’s sincerity too much though, then Narcoleptic Dancers own brand may make you cringe a whole lot more. Melody lovingly sings: “You are so sweet/ I might be in love/Kiss me softly /Send me to the clouds” on ‘Soft and Sweet,’ before going Tim Burton on ‘Bakerloo’: “I live in a city/It’s made of cardboard boxes/Jump in my plastic car.” But if that is your cup of tea and nine sugars, the brilliant ‘Unique Trees’ is the perfect dose of Johnson & Johnson – (literally). Melody’s voice is the main attraction. Her dazed and saccharine vocal is improved by her Dutch accentuations adding personality to an otherwise cliché record. Without Melody ‘Never Sleep’ might easily become forgettable.

Thankfully there is assortment too. The surf rock ‘Dusty Cowboy’ cleverly samples ‘The Good, The Bad & The Ugly’ references, whilst the Rapture-esque ‘In the Dark’ shows that Melody has some much needed venom: “I’ll never forgive you if you want to leave me alone.” They prevent ‘Never Sleep’ from becoming too one dimensional. Barr these tracks, this is a LP which is not for those without a sweet tooth. Longer plays reveal how sickeningly mawkish ‘Never Sleep’ is as a whole, eventually becoming like that loved up couple who annoyingly lets everyone else know about them, even if you don’t want to know. It does have some fine twee moments but only small doses are recommended. Just 400 words until the inevitable use of the word twee too!