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Hear Tone of Arc’s ‘The Time Was Right’ LP, a Thrilling Disco Dance-Punk Trip

Tone of Arc The Time Was Right Album Stream Dead Seal

San Francisco duo Tone of Arc are reinventing dance-punk in their own New Age gypsy image, folding vintage DFA Records into a wild and wooly mix that owes to the playfulness of Talking Heads, the modern mixology of Matthew Dear, and the fact that members Derrick Boyd and Zoe Presnick are an actual couple. Their collaboration is fluid and complete, an unhindered disco experiment that sees some serious fruition on their debut full-length, The Time Was Right, just out on !K7 sub-division No.19 Music.

Highlights include the Clash-inspired “Chalk Hill,” a fairly faithful cover of Q Lazzarus’ 1988 New Wave hit “Goodbye Horses,” the deeply psychedelic guitar-powered “Hardly Standing,” and the house-addled closer “Left Field.” Still, each song is a journey unto itself — a combination of at least five winning ideas complete with its own mysterious tone and thrilling arc.