Pitchfork

"Let's Dance" has to be the least-intimidating song to cover in David Bowie's catalog. While it's far from Bowie's creative nadir, he was definitely flirting with the commercial mainstream and divorcing himself from the drama that wrought his earlier, more forward-looking material. It's a fun 1980s song for any band to pick up and run with (which is probably why M. Ward's plaintive acoustic try seems quaint and clever instead of maudlin).

So it's the prerogative of the Futureheads, who have many fun songs, to approach another fun song and ensure their version is no fun at all. The best part: The brief intro with the rush of power chords and the ascending barbershop quartet vocals. The worst: Every moment after that. The usually excellent band builds its cover not from its guitars but from short, staccato bursts of vocal harmony-- as if they were listening closely to Max Tundra's mix of their own "Decent Days and Nights" and taking those lessons nowhere. Remember how fun it was to sing at the top of your lungs about being under serious moonlight? You will forget after hearing this. Making a song like "Let's Dance" so utterly dull is actually kind of interesting.