Kid Canaveral – Now That You Are a Dancer

With Now That You Are a Dancer, Kid Canaveral make the whole ‘difficult second album’ to-do look terribly passé, offering a textbook example of how to build on past successes without diluting them. The finer qualities of assured debut Shouting at Wildlife are nimbly carried over, with the band’s abundant charm and indie-pop antics as appealing as ever.

There’s nary a slither of sophomore slump to clutter proceedings, as tracks like buoyant opener The Wrench and the propellant pace of Breaking Up is the New Getting Married re-establish a personable palette of dynamic guitar lines and crisp wit. But, importantly, inspirations haven’t stood still for the quartet, and there are newfound tweaks to testify to their musical development. From the synth clinch of Skeletons to A Compromise’s cacophonous finale, Kid Canaveral have matured their sound whilst retaining their trademark spryness, confidently extending themselves and thereby hinting at further, yet-untapped promise. [Chris Buckle]