To hear The White Tie Affair, who play the Rave tonight at 7 p.m., spin it, this young Illinois band has revolutionized rock music by pairing it with dance beats—never mind that on any given night there are dozens of indistinguishable electro-rock bands with the same M.O. opening for mid-level emo bands all over the country. Though they’re not the first band to disco-up (or Panic at the Disco-up) the old Duran Duran playbook, The White Tie Affair wins points for earnestness. Without falling back on the simpleton riffs that mar too much major-label emo, the band sings timeworn puns like “I’m so tired of being so sick and tired” as if they not only find real truth in them, but genuinely believe they’re the first to come up with them.
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