Album Review: Var - No One Dances Quite Like My Brothers

16 July 2013 | 9:29 am | Andrew McDonald

No One Dances Quite Like My Brothers won’t live up to the heights established by Ronnenfelt’s main group Iceage, but it’s admirable to be trying to do so in a totally different and unique way.

Vår is, for the most part, Danish duo Elias Ronnenfelt and Loke Rahbek – both known nationally for a number of presently in vogue musical projects, almost none of which sound like this perplexing and fascinating record.

No One Dances Quite Like My Brothers is a minimalist electro rock album with serious post-punk, gothic and house influences. If that sounds like a clashing collection of inspiration, it is: the title track recalls the New York no-wave scene of the '80s with a lush, oceanic overtone and spoken word poetry layered over it. Motionless Duties is a harsh metallic proto-industrial number that manages to weave a dance groove between its cracks. Pictures Of Today/Victorial throbs with a sexual energy that undercuts what is an otherwise straight down the line post-punk tune. Vår can certainly not be criticised for not thinking outside the box.

The album is not without its earnest charm, but its scattered approach is frustratingly inconsistent. For every moment of mad excellence there is another of childish experimentation for the sake of it. It turns out the album name is perfect for what this full-length is – it's friends celebrating their musicality, arguably for no end other than to entertain each other. No One Dances Quite Like My Brothers won't live up to the heights established by Ronnenfelt's main group Iceage, but it's admirable to be trying to do so in a totally different and unique way.