Papa Dance plays “Poniżej krytyki”

“Like a maxi single / Our love spins round / It’s a short song / But what a beautiful sound,” sang the Polish synthpop legends Papa Dance 36 years ago. The song is from their second album, Poniżej krytyki (Beneath criticism), and true to its title, the Polish critics rated the album and the band itself as an underachievement. And yet this beautiful sounding LP features unforgettable lyrics and tracks that remain earworms for decades. Unappreciated in the rock-centered twilight years of the Polish People’s Republic, Poniżej krytyki has since been rediscovered as a masterpiece of synthpop, with excellent production by the duo Mariusz Zabrodzki and Sławomir Wesołowski, and lyrics by the songwriting dream team Cygan/Dutkiewicz/Mogielnicki. This performance of the album in its entirety will be Papa Dance’s first concert under their original name in over a decade—and it might just be their last.