Shakespeare has that line from Romeo and Juliet about a rose and the meaningless of names, but even as I’m reminded of that cliche, I can’t help but feel some added resentment toward My Dear Disco’s debut album, Dancethink LP. For all intensive purposes, dance music is one of the most utilitarian genres out there. Sure there are exceptions, but primarily speaking, it is not out to provoke deep thought. Why else would most people need to get drunk before they even think of hitting the floor?

My Dear Disco, a septet from Ann Arbor, will not make you think. In fact, the less you think about them, the better. Don’t think of this an insult so much as an admittedly backhanded compliment; they’re nothing transcendent, but if you need a big four-to-the-four disco beat to dance to, you could do much worse.

My Dear Disco at least has the songwriting chops for classic sounding hooks. “For Your Love’s” repeated mantra and keyboard lick sound straight off a 1980s dance compilation. Elsewhere, “Amsterdam” maintains a headfirst frantic pace and some catchy boy/girl harmonies.

But when there are amazing, forward-thinking and layered dance artists out there, like the Bug, Gui Boratto and much of DFA’s roster, it’s hard to really take Dancethink’s skin-level pleasures for more than what they really are. While greater bands will find time to be sonically inventive, My Dear Disco stick to the tried and true buzzing synthesizers, complex guitar riffs and auto-tuned siren vocasl via lead singer Michelle Chamuel.

Which is a shame, because My Dear Disco have enough energy to make even their clichéd ideas sound a bit welcoming. But energy or not, they’re still clichés. Perhaps in a live setting, they rise above their boxed-in sound. They sound like they could be a lot of fun for a late-night dance party. Just be sure to have a few drinks beforehand; wouldn’t want to be embarrassed trying to do the robot.

Andrew Mitchell