“Just A Dance”
by The Seeds
2008 song
Imagine The Seeds’ 1970 classic "Wish Me Up" with early R.E.M.-style drums added to it: that’s roughly what the 2008 song "Just A Dance" sounds like. The song is credited to The Seeds but is in fact a performance by Sky Saxon, guitarist/bassist Michael Oak, and drummer Anthony Prickett, first released on the 2008 Saxon/Oak compilation Back To The Garden.
It’s Oak’s chiming faux-Spanish guitar that gives "Just A Dance" its overall shape. The odd thing about "Just A Dance" is that, while Oak does fine elsewhere on the album, here he sounds unsure of his guitar playing, with clearly audible mistakes. It’s certainly not a lack of ability; maybe this is a demo that the guys just thought had a nice vibe, flubs and all, and so they opted to include it. Whatever the story, "Just A Dance" is a nice laid-back pop song, melodic but not particularly psychedelic. And of course it’s a fine showcase for Sky’s dramatic latter-career tenor vocals.