GoodBooks - ‘Leni’ (Columbia) Released 04/12/06

GoodBooks write good songs, and ‘Leni’ is nothing if not proof of that. Delicate yet taut verses mutate into Spinto-esque stabs of keys, with just the right amount of valve-rattling guitar licks to keep the track from submerging into Feeling/Athlete/Keane style wetness. If The Mystery Jets’ dad had been into Roxy Music rather than Yes then this is what that band could well have ended up sounding like. Widely tipped for 2007, one can only hope that the major label deal will encourage rather than dilute their intriguing potential.