KICK OFF: The Shoes release their debut album
PARIS is the city of love but it’s not very often that the UK looks to the French for modern musical inspiration.
Parisian duo The Shoes are trying to buck that trend and ship their electronic Euro-beats over to British ears when their debut album ‘Crack My Bones’ is released on March 7th 2011.
Their first single ‘Stay The Same’ is a dancy, cowbell-laden pop track with that Calvin Harris feel, particularly through the straight up vocal and high-pitched harmonies. It’s a great chirpy little dance-pop track that’s woody drum sections and catchy chorus are a great start to the album.
In the same vein ‘Cover Your Eyes’ delivers a dancy bass line and some nice touches, particularly the piano excerpts that brighten up the verses. A constantly pitched harmonised male vocal maintains that disco-pop theme, with some tinkly electronics added in that sound like they’re straight out of Streetfighter 2.
‘Hmmm’, your thinking, ‘sounds like a decent prospect’. Well I’m afraid to say from here on in The Shoes begin to lose their sole (apologies, it had to be done), especially as the first of three Bewitched Hands collaborations kicks in.
‘Time To Dance’ starts with some strange ABBA-inspired piano tinklings and a 70’s disco bass line that just doesn’t go away. Then it gets worse as the campness is accelerated by a Lazytown-style kids spell-along and a harmonised Eurovision vocal that grates straight from the off.
The other two of these collaborations aren’t much nicer with title track ‘Crack My Bones’, which sounds like a trippy Pet Shop Boys narration with unconvincing accents, and the Transylvania-inspired Cheeky Girls-fest that is ‘The Wolf Under The Moon’.
Featuring lyrics like, “Every night the clock stop in my room, it’s so far the wolf under the moon,” it’s hard to take seriously.
‘Wastin’ Time’, which is one of only three songs not to be a collaboration is a definite highlight however, with that Calvin Harris aspect returning, it’s chilled bass line, sleepy harmonies and pretty piano sections make it well worth a listen.
There is so much going on here however that it’s hard to tell if the tracks are from the same record.
‘Cliché’, which features CocknBullKid, is a great example of this with its weird bass line reminiscent of ‘Sweet Like Chocolate’ by Shanks & Bigfoot and a grating electro chorus.
Another oddball is the last track, ‘Investigator’, which is a near nine minute dance track with Empire of the Sun-like vocals but with drums straight out of ‘Wildboys’ by Duran Duran that are too much to bare.
Overall this debut is an odd mishmash of inspirations and collaborations that are often ordinary, although there are some redeeming features, but more often than not they are extraordinary for all the wrong reasons.
3/10
Also published on www.virgin.com
http://www.virgin.com/music/reviews/crack-my-bones-its-the-shoes/
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