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Whenever I tell people that I research the Bloomington punk scene, they are often surprised to learn about its existence and skeptical about its ability to be anything other than a small-scale replica of more famous scenes in larger cities. While Bloomington reacts to and against other punk scenes, what people are doing here is uniquely Hoosier, and often just downright weird. Bloomington’s\u00a0cult-favorite experimental new wave punk band, the Dancing Cigarettes, is perhaps responsible for starting this tradition.<\/p>\n

The Dancing Cigarettes surfaced on the Bloomington punk scene in 1979. While they were only active until 1983, they developed a local cult following of devoted Cigs. While their\u00a0sound could be described most simply as experimental new wave, delving deeper can illuminate\u00a0the threads that held such a unique group together: the signature goofy irony of their lyricism, the dissonant and abrasive saxophone line, and\u00a0their choppy, unpredictable rhythms. With the Dancing Cigarettes, all of these components were strung together\u00a0atop poppy, melodic lines on the bass, guitar, and\/or keyboard, and then packed into meandering\u00a0and disjointed\u00a0song structures. The Dancing Cigarettes created a sound that was simultaneously confrontational, nonsensical, and infectious.<\/p>\n