If you judge a band by how quickly they can lace a smile across your face, Don’t Date Kate!’s pogo-pulse—in sun-drenched F-major—feels like tripping over a Saturday-morning cartoon theme, then deciding to dance in the mess rather than clean it up.
But that playful gloss hides a disciplined craft the duo have been sharpening since their Michigan teen years under mentor Ron Dickson. His mantra, “If you’re going to make a mistake, make it a big one,” echoes everywhere–in the crunchy, almost-too-bright guitar tone, cheerfully low-fi mix, and especially in the call-and-response…
