Pazartesi 20 Tem 2009, 21:04

Some more stuff I wrote a while ago. Making the journal entries a little less lonely.

Good Shoes - Think Before You Speak (2007)

DOWNLOAD: http://www. sounds like: Arctic Monkeys, The Kooks, The Cribs, anything British with a 'The' in front of it (no, The Cure and The Smiths don't count)

I decided that I'm going to jump around with this blog a little bit. I'm going to do album reviews of new stuff, old stuff, but most of all, stuff I like. Some of the albums being reviewed are going to be a complete mystery to you, and some of them you may have heard over and over on the radio. The point is, I'm reviewing them because I want you to listen to what I listen to. I don't think I'm weird or different for enjoying such a wide variety of music, I just think I spend way too much time looking for new music. Regardless, I will move on. Enjoy.

Good Shoes are a four-piece British pop-rock band. They're fun to listen to and have a great sense for creating a catchy pop song. Think Before You Speak was released in early 2007, but I didn't stumble upon it until later on in 2008. I don't even really have a style for writing these yet, so I'm going to go through it song-by-song with a nifty little download link at the end.

1. Nazanin - Perfect way to begin the album. A lot of times I enjoy these sort of songs that are seemingly nonsense at first listen. It gives you a perfect taste of what the rest of the album will be like. It starts out with a catchy riff that continues throughout the song, which is continually added on throughout the song. The lyrics are basically repeated as "All of my insecurities, are summed up when you walk into my…", with the sentence being finished at the end as the payoff. It's weird that one little line can mean so much, but I think it flows right into the rest of the album. There's nothing complex about this song or this album. Just near-perfect Brit-pop. 4 stars ****

2. The Photos on My Wall - The pace of the previous song is carried into this one, which is another great one. The song is an admittance of arrogance and personal fault, literally saying "I don't think before I speak/I-I-I-I break your heart/I think I could do better/So-so-so-so arrogant". The pacing of the song creates a seamless transition between the song preceding it and the song following. 3 stars ***

3. Morden - One of my personal favorites on the album. It's strange because the lyrics completely contradict the feel of the song musically. Ignoring all of the lyrics, the song sounds fairly upbeat, keeping my foot tapping throughout while I listen to it. Suddenly you get stopped in your tracks when you hear "I read the news today/a youth killed himself in a horrible way/he hung himself". WTF? The song is a juxtaposition that sounds a lot better than I just described. This will probably remain throughout. 5 stars *****

4. All In My Head - This song remains constant with the ones I described before. Incredibly catchy, incredibly self-lamenting. "I'm a talented artist but my hearts not in it/I'm a good shag but I find nobody fit/I play in a band but I've got no talent/I spit and I drawl but I just don't change a thing". It's a paranoid take on life and a man's personal dispositions. Again, this all sounds very negative, and yet Good Shoes have spun it into a catchy tune that is thoroughly enjoyable to listen to. 3 stars ***

5. Never Meant to Hurt You - The first song on the album that I don't really enjoy. Kind of boring in a sense that the chorus does nothing to catch my attention. I try not to waste too much time describing songs that I don't really think are worth my attention. 0 stars

6. Blue Eyes - Back to the songs I actually enjoy, Blue Eyes is a pretty dandy one. It speaks about the beauty of a woman who won't give you their full attention or time. The album is about seeing and recognizing flaws, whether it's something you enjoy or not. The riff is catchy, the singing is sweet and sincere. It certainly has my attention. 3 stars ***

7. Sophia - Another one of my favorites. Maybe the catchiest song on the album. The chorus is another touch of disappointment and regret, stating "if you go back to where we first met, it will only break your heart". At the same time, it's a wonderful reflective story of youth and better times. I love this song, it was the first I heard off of the album and it is one I will be listening to for a long time to come. In fact, if you have to listen to one song off the album, this is it. 5 stars *****

8. We Are Not the Same - The album becomes slightly less interesting at this point forward. Not every album can be perfect. This song starts of interesting, with a riff that can be described as frantic and inherently interesting. Actually, overall the song the song isn't too bad, but the chorus doesn't contain the sort of pop sensibility that makes the first half of the album practically golden. It sounds more like a mediocre Maximo Park song, if you know who they are, that is. 2 stars **

9. Small Town Girl - More mediocrity, in my humble opinion of course. It feels like it was either rushed, or that different several ideas were thrown together to create a song. It doesn't feel cohesive or terribly interesting. The song also lasts incredibly too long, which is saying a lot for a song that is only 3 and a half minutes long. 1 star-ish *

10. In the City - A little too downbeat for my liking. I do like the storytelling though, as I do in general with many British pop bands (like Arctic Monkeys and Bloc Party). As an American there is something introspective about hearing songs about everyday life in the U.K. 1 star *

11. Things to Make and Do - It just feels like a college freshman talking about how bad the government is. I may have completely misread this. Read it for yourself "Private education makes me sick/Whatever happened to equality/And i, got a tan from my TV/Do you, believe, everything your told?/I don't!/Do you?". 0 stars

12. Everybody's Talking - God I wish this were an 8-song album. 0 stars

13. Ice Age - See the last two songs. The song picks up near the end with some interesting instrumentation and chanted lyrics. 1 star *

14. Wait - Decently catchy song, but it just doesn't feel like there was enough material here to make a solid album. It's extremely front-loaded, that's really all I can do to describe it. 2 stars **

Overall, as I've stated earlier, it's way too front-loaded of an album. But the songs, the feel, the catchy-ness, that's all there. Just Listen.

-Jay