Good Shoes - Astoria, London - 22/11/07
4/5
By: Alex Lee Thomson
When you spend so long watching indie bands try and fail at a career you start to lose heart. Then, one day, a band comes along who have that indie-pop dance thing going on but actually also have the requisite talent behind it, and as cynical as you could be when presented with such a sound, Good Shoes are a group that could actually one day turn out to be on a par with the likes of The Cure. We're being forced to take real notice for a change.
When you see a band like Good Shoes, a band so genuinely good, with such authentically well written music, your intuition is to love it, and love it you should. If we had a few quid to put on which of this year's new bands would have an incredible 5th album, it would be this group of south London lads. The songs were out in force at their biggest ever headline show, the conquering 'Morden' being the performance's finale, the likes of 'The Photos On My Wall' and 'Never Meant To Hurt You' satisfying the evening with proper tunes that you could lean back and listen to or dance rockabilly style in front of should you wish. There's honesty in what they do, a simplistic songmanship which isn't really seen anymore, the vocals being incoherently bedazzling at times but nonetheless relevantly infusing, sliding into a section of your brain normally reserved for naughty thoughts of Keira Knightley and such-what.
The band's best song just happens to be their latest in a line of uber-great singles, the Cure-like ballistic stylistics of 'Small Town Girl' which is so catchy you beg your turntable to stop mid song and flick a ten second gap repeatedly while you sit gently rocking backwards and forwards with a smile bigger than that of a schoolboy who's found a stash of Playboys. Live, the guitars are as brilliant as you'd hope, their sound mashing, pounding into itself but the melody laying each song down before you for ease of listening, with a potent punch line that beds deep into you and festers away, becoming ravenous.
Anybody willing to slate these hard working, fast playing lads off as a 2007 also-ran has to see them live to judge the supremacy they have. They don't claim to be the rebirth of music, believing the hype that surrounds all bands with a few good anthems, rather they play with dignity and convincing decorum, inviting you to find your own love within their songs, steering clear of pushing a big chorus in your face and saying, "here, sing along to this you b*tch". I love this band and I don't think I'm alone. Nice lads, nice music, awesome gig, though it's a shame Miss Knightley didn't make an appearance. You can't have it all I guess, though with this band you get pretty close.
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