Alt Dance

Alternative dance merges rock elements with electronic music's futuristic bent. Popularized in the late 1980s by Manchester bands like the Stone Roses and Primal Scream, this radio-friendly pop-techno hybrid incorporated rock's romanticism with a mood of optimistic anticipation and idealism. Traditional pop songs were filtered through dub and techno with acoustic and electric guitar melodies offering inviting hooks over danceable beats. Think Jesus Jones' "Right Here Right Now" or EMF's "Unbelievable" for the most commercially known examples of this. In the '90s, pop-industrial bands like Nine Inch Nails made dance-floor fodder with darker themes and harder beats, while the more esoteric electronica genres became the norm for club-goers.