Black Vinyl Shoes was recorded in a living room; the intricately layered guitars and vocals make that hard to believe. The songs, telling tender tales of failed romance, are catchy and instantly likable. The band also put the record in an impressive package and distributed it as a vinyl demo; in fact, it's one of the finest home- brewed releases ever, and is a much more valid piece of music than many productions by well-known bands with far greater technical resources. After the small initial pressing sold out, the album was licensed to PVC and reissued with wholly different artwork.
The
Tomorrow Night / Okay 7" single was published in Bomp Records in 1978. It contains the first version of Tomorrow Night (later included in Present Tense) and a different version of Okay. It was produced by The Shoes with Steve Meyers.
Present Tense was Shoes' first major label release on Elektra Records in the fall of 1979. Recorded in Oxfordshire, England at Richard Branson's The Manor recording studio in the summer of 1979 and mixed in London at Trident Studios working with producer Mike Stone (Queen, Asia, T. Rex). Present Tense garnered very positive reviews both in the U.S. and in England and set the tone for Shoes' reputations as "critic's darlings" everywhere from New York's Village Voice to England's New Musical Express. The 12 songs included here spawned 4 single releases (Tomorrow Night, Too Late and I Don't Miss You on 7" and I Don't Wanna Hear It on 12") as well as 4 videos (Tomorrow Night, Too Late, Cruel You and In My Arms Again) that would later become early staples at MTV. The layered vocal harmonies and guitar-based songs became a trademark of all of Shoes' discs (Cd baby).
This is probably Shoes' best album.
Tongue Twister, however, found Shoes in more audibly sympathetic territory; though the album's crisp, well-detailed mix is significantly more hi-fi than the group's debut, producer Richard Dashut's approach is pleasingly lean and concise, with John Murphy and Jeff Murphy's harmonies and the efficiently hooky guitar lines of Gary Klebe and Jeff Murphy clear in the forefront at all times. In many ways, Tongue Twisters suggests what Black Vinyl Shoes might have sounded like with more time and money but a similar set of aesthetic choices; it also boasts a set of great pop songs (played with a few notches more energy than on their debut), including the spunky "Your Imagination," the plaintive yet lustful "Karen," the surprisingly hard-rocking "She Satisfies," and "Girls of Today," which amusingly covers territory the Who staked out on "Pictures of Lily." Oh, and no matter what it might sound like, there are no keyboards on Tongue Twisters, a brave creative choice for a pop band with an eye on the charts in 1981. If Tongue Twisters didn't break nearly as much ground as Shoes' debut, it's still a superb bit of guitar-driven pop, and one of the band's most purely enjoyable efforts.
Black Vinyl Shoes tracks:
Boys Don't Lie / Do You Wanna Get Lucky? / She'll Disappear / Tragedy / Writing A Postcard / Not Me / Someone Finer / Capital Gain / Fatal / Running Start / Okay / It Really Hurts / Fire For Awhile / If You'd Stay / Nowhere So Fast (Gary Klebe)
Present Tense tracks:
Tomorrow Night / Too Late / Hangin' Around With You / Your Very Eyes / In My Arms Again / Somebody Has What I Had / Now And Then / Every / I Don't Miss You / Cruel You / Three Times [See Me/Say It/Listen] / I Don't Wanna Hear It (Jeff Murphy)
Tongue Twister tracks:
Your Imagination / Burned Out Love / The Things You Do / Only In My Sleep / Karen / She Satisfies / Girls Of Today / Hopin' She's The One / When It Hits / Yes Or No / Found A Girl / Hate To Run (John Murphy)
Shoes - Tomorrow Night/Okay 7"Shoes - Black Vinyl ShoesShoes - Present tenseShoes - Tongue TwisterPwd: PVAcblog
Bitrate: 320
If timing is truly everything, then the Wendys had the misfortune of releasing their debut album shortly before the collapse of their record label, U.K. indie powerhouse Factory. Comprised of John Renton (vocals), Ian White (guitar), Johnny MacArthur (drums), and Arthur Renton (bass), the Wendys rode on a wave of critical acclaim -- and the usual hype from Factory's Tony Wilson -- when they emerged from Edinburgh, Scotland, in the early '90s. As the hysteria created by the Stone Roses and Happy Mondays began to dwindle, the Wendys were voted into "next big thing" status. Superstar producer Ian Broudie produced the group's 1991 debut, Gobbledygook, and while it was lauded by critics, the LP was overlooked by the public. When Factory hit the skids, it dragged the band with them; as grunge took command of the airwaves, there was no room for the Wendys' Madchester-inspired guitar pop. (all music)
