Good Shoes - 'Small Town Girl'

Rumours have been spreading since the early demo of this song was unveiled to avid, British indie-loving music fanatics. ‘Small Town Girl’ is a tale of a girl “Who came from humble beginnings….but now she lives in Hollywood,” so that’s how the rumours started. Could this be about Shins-career-boosting, Star Wars princess Natalie Portman? Whatever. This song begs to be danced to; it’s a 2007 anthem of trends and toe-tapping. If every bit of you dislikes this song, your mind needs to be loosened up a little. Sure, Rhys Jones may not go all-out in Ian Curtis fashion but that’s all part of the Good Shoes surrounding. “Everything’s ok, everything’s alright,” he chants with a hint of enthusiasm and here we are dancing away. It’s one of the best songs that this year’s indie scene has witnessed and you can only be appreciative.

The b-sides make for good times too; ‘May Lannoye’ and ‘Southwest Trains’ keep an upbeat swing. Lyrics are again interesting, “Young woman from the burlesque scene, purple dress, she stares at me,” Morden probably wasn’t the setting for all of this but nevertheless, Good Shoes know how to make things interesting for themselves and everyone listening to them. Only question left to ponder is how they can stir things up when it comes to their second album. Variation will be key and whether they can pull that off will be interesting. For now though, let them savour the moment.

Released 26/11/07 on Brille.