Joe Jonas Returns to Music with New Band, DNCE

When a brothers band breaks up, one question inevitably rears its head, demanding an answer: Who are going to be the Michaels and who are going to be the Titos?

In such circumstances, some lucky and talented guys go on to find immense commercial success on their solo careers...and some become Tito.

When The Jonas Brothers called it quits, Nick busted out of the gate, sprinting toward solo superstar status with singles like "Chains" and "Jealous," and booking a role on DirecTV's Kingdom.

What would become of Joe and Kevin? Can't say much for Kevin--get your shit together, Kevin--but Joe's bouncing back into the spotlight. His new outfit, DNCE, have just dropped their debut single and it's damn good first offering.

Turns out that Joe has, for quiet a while, wanted to put together a group inspired by Earth, Wind & Fire and Hall & Oates. He teamed up with guitarist JinJoo Lee, bassist/keyboardist Cole Whittle, and drummer Jack Lawless and thus DNCE was born.

Their first single, "Cake by the Ocean," dropped yesterday, and it's an absolute end-of-summer smash. Upbeat and groovy in a "September" by Earth, Wind, and Fire kind of way, the smooth bass line and dearly disco, near-falsetto chorus demonstrate that DNCE can stay true to the sensibilities of its inspirations while still innovating and updating.

Jonas came up with the title of the song when he overheard Swedish producers Mattman & Robin saying they wanted to get some cake by the ocean. They had misspoken the name of the cocktail they wanted, a Sex on the Beach. But the name had some magic to it and thus we have DNCE's first single.

It still remains to be seen how much milage they can get out of this 70s vibe, but if all their tracks are at least half as good as "Cake by the Ocean," they could ride this soul train for a long, long time.

Listen to "Cake by the Ocean" below and check out the band's website here.