DNCE is a pop rock band formed in Los Angeles, consisting of a post-Jonas Brothers Joe Jonas on lead vocals alongside JinJoo Lee on guitar, Cole Whittle on bass and Jack Lawless on drums.
Though its members had already been mutuals from touring with the Jo Bros, the band officially formed in 2015 and debuted with the single "Cake by the Ocean," which peaked at #9 on the Billboard charts, became one of the year's summer staples, and is now considered their Signature Song. That single in addition to the group's follow-up single "Toothbrush" were included on their debut EP Swaay, as well as their self-titled debut album, which respectively came out in October 2015 and November 2016. The lead single for the album, "Body Moves", was used in a Spotify ad that birthed the infamous "play this at my funeral"
meme.
After a collab with Nicki Minaj and the release of a second EP named People to People, which didn't gain much traction, DNCE went on indefinite hiatus with the reunion of the Jonas Brothers in 2019. DNCE themselves reunited in 2022, though this time without Cole Whittle, who had been focusing on his solo career. They featured on Kygo's single "Dancing Feet" as their comeback, and released three more singles before going on hiatus again in mid-2023.
Members (current members in bold):
- Joe Jonas — lead vocals
- JinJoo Lee — lead guitar, backing vocals
- Jack Lawless — drums, percussion, backing vocals
- Cole Whittle — bass guitar, keyboards, backing vocals (2015–2018)
Discography:
- Swaay (2015, EP)
- DNCE (2016)
- People to People (2018, EP)
Keep on hoping we'll be troping by the ocean:
- Age-Inappropriate Art: The group performed "Cake by the Ocean," a song not-so subtly about sex on the beach, at the 2016 Kids' Choice Awards.
- A Wild Rapper Appears!: Nicki Minaj is the third-verse featured rapper on "Kissing Strangers."
- Animated Music Video: The one for "Good Day" is done in adorable Stop Motion.
- Bowdlerise: The clean version of "Cake by the Ocean" has "fucking crazy" replaced with "crazy, crazy" and "goddamn" with "hot damn."
- Dance Sensation: "DNCE" (the song) contains this as a bridge. As it's about either drunk dancing or dancing even though you're not good at it, the moves themselves aren't supposed to be all that coherent:Step, left foot, then the other foot
Shake, right hand, then the other hand
Shake your head like you don't understand - Hotter and Sexier: Very much so, compared to Joe's work with his brothers on the Disney Channel.
- Intercourse with You: As they are influenced by Funk music, they naturally have an abundance of sexy themes in their music. "Cake by the Ocean" is by far their most egregious and
well-known example. Funnily enough, while dancing is often used as a metaphor for sex, the band really does have songs about straight-up, non-euphemistic dancing. - Mr. Fanservice: Definitely, definitely Joe.
- Obligatory Swearing: The uncensored version of Cake by the Ocean has a line in the chorus, "Let's lose our minds and go fucking crazy."
- Only Sane Man: Jack, at least in terms of looks; he's usually the most "normal" dressed amidst the rest of the group's wacky fashions.
- The Smurfette Principle: JinJoo is the sole female member.
- Shout-Out:
- "Cake by the Ocean" has "I'll be Diddy, you be Naomi." The line before it, "Walk for me, baby," is a reference to Naomi's modelling career.
- In "Kissing Strangers," Nicki raps, "Me? I'm Jem, and these bitches is the Holograms."
- Spelling Song: Their self-titled song naturally spells the band's name out. Also counts as Misspelling Out Loud, because they say the word "dance" right after.
- Three Minutes of Writhing: The entirety of the "Body Moves" music video — not just female models, but male ones too. Even the band members themselves get in on the action.
- Two Guys and a Girl: The current line-up as of 2022, now with Cole out of the band.
