I always thought the chief appeal of rock was that no one expected you to dance to it. Perfect for spotty and socially inept adolescent males, then. (it took one to know one).
So what do we make of a rock band with a mission to see their audiences dancing? With titles like "Full-pro Disco" and "Rob Ross on Drugs" the invitation is clearly there. It's odd. The square shouldered four four and the slightly downbeat melodies don’t immediately stick a pin in your boogie button. There is no knee snapping syncopation or frantic bouncing bass here. No obvious signs of St Vitus at the helm.
It all seemed in order at the point of sale. The name and package design beamed out 70s sophisticated R&B cum soulful jazz, with it’s strong contrast colours and neutral font. But rushing it home and rolling up the carpet turns out not to have been such a great idea. The opening contents are fairly lively, but after only a verse or two it's clear that CAFEBAR 401 are going to grind out Idelwild cum anonymous power chord day trips to Head Nodding for the rest of the night. There is plenty of repetition to help the dance plan. In fact, there's hardly a two or four bar phrase that doesn’t get at least four turns to dig into the subconscious. Big guitar riffs launch themselves in every tune, in a Peter Kay bombing kind of way. But, The Music's example notwithstanding, it never gets close to spinning trance or doped euphoria.
Tije Oortwijn (did I mention that CAFEBAR 401 are Dutch?) sings with controlled passion. Harmony vocal tracks are added to inject drama as required. The tunes are OK, in the fairly predictable notes on the standard chord sequence way that has become traditional. Choruses are typically one line sung four times, with the song finishing on two three or even four repeats of the whole chorus. It does get monotonous, despite some gallant production efforts to ring changes with an acoustic here, a guitar effect or a string part there.
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So let’s forget the dance distraction. The overall effect is moody, tightly played and (if cranked out loud enough) pretty exhilarating mainstream pop rock. "Senses Working Overtime" is nothing like XTC, but it does have a chorus that could burrow its way into your psyche. The guitar parts that follow it out (Tije Oortwijn and Dennis Kleinlangevelslo) do roar pretty meanly.
But I couldn’t honestly recommend a trip to the Netherlands to catch their set. If your appetite does go head up for Reef, or even Muse or Idlewild then you could look forward to some professional quality stuff from CAFEBAR 401 when they tour. It’s basic and wholesome nourishing basic tack. But maybe PIE AND MASH SHOP or ERIC'S FISH BAR would be more indicative names than CAFEBAR 401.
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