Customer Reviews

Think Before You Speak

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Good Shoes has managed to produce an album which has trumped my want of diversity in music listening. The lyrics can be deep, but more than anything tell stories and the entirety is a narrative. Not in the sense of a Pink Floyd album which makes much more sense when listened to in it's entirety - but a narrative of angst; hopeful angst. Most any respectable first albums of bands are filled with this angst, and it is certainly present here. It is refreshing that Good Shoes does not yet know that they produce such good music.

The opening track is simply written, but comes running at you with a catchy guitar riff which delivers the simple message. The tracks evolve in complexity as the album continues, and the lead singer's uniquely light cockney-accented delivery is a refreshing change from the typical grungy snarling that has been the rage lately. This album has many highlights, but my recommendation is to do a full listen and pick out your own personal favorites.

I would not say they are in the same vein as Arctic Monkeys, no. I would say, that they are more similar to Foals. Foals are a young British band who make danceable guitar-rock with a fresh sound utilizing odd time signatures sometimes referred to as 'math rock'. Good Shoes seem to have the same flair that Foals have, but they present their music differently. Good Shoes show some great ska influences in many of their songs, as opposed to the drum & bass influences in Foals' songs, and Good Shoes lyrics, save for the first song Nazarim, are more fleshed-out and tell more complete stories than Foals (Foals lyrics are almost secondary, and they feel ephemeral). Good Shoes' singer keeps his heavy accent, even accentuates it a bit, which lends the songs on this album even more appeal to those of us who love the British accent. I listen to a lot of modern British bands, and Good Shoes definitely are one of the most fun, and fresh, sounds out there now.

I suppose the easy association for Good Shoes is the Arctic Monkeys. Young guys playing self depreciating poppy Brit stuff. For me Good Shoes has that je ne sais quois that the Arctic Monkeys don't.

All In My Head and The Photos On My Wall capture a modern Buzzcocks sensibility that I can't get enough of.