We Are Standard originally emerged in 2007, releasing 3000v-40000w alongside extensive touring and playing major European festivals including F.I.B, Eurosonic and Popkomm.

Known in their home country as “Standard”, The Basque Country five piece’s remix album of their second LP is an intriguing transformation of the original, which was released some two years ago. The original reference points of driving Euro-indie, recall Soulwax and Phoenix. In some ways they follow template of “music girls can dance to” ideas mid noughties Bloc Party and Franz Ferdinand espoused, augmented with the suggestion of dance beats and keyboards.

There’s not even a suggestion of Spanish accents to the vocal work, which eschews Latin for an English language vocal, nodding towards the bands’ influences. The use of two drummers in the lineup also adds to the intensely rhythmic feel in their original work, but also points the direction towards this dance oriented alternate take on their songs.

In the context of this remix record, the original songs like ‘Don’t Give Up’, ‘Don’t Let The Children Play Around’ and ‘The First Girl Who Got A Kiss Without A Please’ are transformed into a much cooler, Balearic downtempo post-club experience than their indie counterparts. Remixes from the likes the legendary New York Attic DJ and New Order producer Arthur Baker, fellow Spaniards The Requesters and Anoraak are largely stripped of analogue instruments and reconstructed with dance beats, sampled guitars and synth sounds. Madchester style happy piano sounds pop up on ‘Other Lips, Other Kisses’, recalling the original marriage of indie and dance that occurred during that era, this time filtered through a strong European influence.

On the whole it’s this marriage of British indie-dance and European Balearic house that makes The Golden League a compelling listen for indie fans and clubbing aficionados alike.