For all the guff that electroclash and dance punk got back in the day, at the very least it was great to see someone mining something other than re-warmed ‘70s riffs and rock clichés. It also helped to shine a light on the long overlooked punk-funk movement, or at the very least, help it to expand beyond a Gang of Four fetish. That’s not to say that Russ Manning, the man also known as Rush Midnight, is a revivalist. But Rush Midnight (Last Gang Records), the debut full-length, seems to tap into that moment when bands weren’t afraid to make some straight-up dance music.

In his other life, Manning is the bass player for similarly minded Twin Shadow, so you can say that he comes by his predilections honestly. But Rush Midnight stays a bit more stylistically pure. There isn’t an attempt to make a rock band into a dance band. Instead, Manning makes a live band into a dance band. It may seem like a hair-splitting distinction, but what it means is that the album is as close to all the way live as it can go. While some of the sounds and technology sound like ‘80s fabrication, it is also undeniably live in the room. For all the digital elements at work, there is a lack of gloss, and the production gives a warm, relatively lo-fi vibe. Part of that could be the emphasis on Manning’s bass playing, while the synths taking more of a support role. Yet, even when the constructions are wholly digital, as in “Too Late,” Manning still keeps an organic feel.

Rush Midnight is a dance record, but Manning isn’t a whirling dervish delivering bon mots from the pulpit on high. The music does the heavy lifting, while he adds more of a cool, crooning element. At times, Manning’s voice is nearly a whisper in the headphones. And while he’s not a strong vocal presence, he plays his role well. There’s a quiet insistence that works and manages to be fairly versatile. Rush Midnight is a shimmering, breezy collection that shows that you can love the past, but not be a slave to it.