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If you're a dance-rock band with both feet firmly placed in the synth-heavy, post-rock '80s, you could do a lot worse than hire ex-DFA member Tim Goldsworthy to produce an album. He's worked magic with many bands over the course of his career, tightening up arrangements, punching up the beats, and generally helping bands make music that's built for maximum impact, both over headphones and on dancefloors. He's behind the board on We Have Band's third album, Movements, and his efforts have helped the band to deliver its best work yet. Not that We Have Band needed a ton of help, since they had already crafted one of the best indie dance jams of the 2000s with the Delta 5-inspired "You Came Out" and an excellently moody album, Ternion, in 2011. Working together, the three members of the band and Goldsworthy have come up with a gem of an album. Filled with driving beats, pulsating synths, ear-grabbing guitars, and alternating male/female vocals, Movements is 100% dancefloor-ready, while still holding plenty of listening pleasure for people stuck in cubicles or on long car trips. The uptempo, foot-stomping tracks like "Modulate," "Save Myself," and "Heart Jump" (on which Dede W-P delivers an amazing vocal workout) are the immediate hits that will catch ears and move feet. The midtempo tracks that snake and twist along sleekly are the heart of the album, with taut beats and tightly coiled synths slowly unfolding and bathing the listener in warmth. "You Only," "Please," and "No More Time" are the kind of dance songs you can get lost in as the lights turn to blue and Thomas W-P's deeply felt, deeply delivered vocals caress you as you move. The album's few quiet moments, like the closing "Blue," are still tightly wrapped, forward-moving tracks that don't reduce the intensity level at all. Overall, Movements lives up to its name perfectly, moving listeners to get on the dancefloor, moving them to feel something real, and moving We Have Band right up to the top echelon of modern dance-rock acts. ~ Tim Sendra
