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| Track list: 1. The Best Treasure Stays Buried 2. We Don't Have That Kind Of Bread 3. Sweethearts In Disguise 4. We All Hid In Basements 5. Two White Ghosts 6. Foxtrot Vandals 7. My Persecution Complex 8. Nae Wonder 9. Cotton Covering 10. City Is Exploding Running time: 33 minutes Released: 2009 |
This is a gem. Glasgow-based (but otherwise multi-national non-Scots) Zoey Van Goey are purveyors of a charming and fun indie-pop sound on this record. I think I owe LastFM a debt of thanks for bringing them to my attention. After loving this a lot, I was giddy when they released follow-up Propeller Versus Wings, but felt they couldn't re-bottle the lightning that made this so special. Lets hear why.
We open with a skittering, broken sort of sound that takes 20 seconds or so to resolve into an understated tune, and a wonderful vocal. The Best Treasure Stays Buried is a parting song, but one with the hope of reforming later. Its a story in a song, an after the event heist recount, a love song, a gorgeous little melody, a wellspring of hope. The chorus is... one of those my mind grabs onto sometimes as an embodiment of one of those things I miss out on as a perpetually single person. It's one of my favourite tunes, but I'm not sure its even my favourite on this album.
The tone shifts next, more uptempo but more kooky. Actually this whole album is kinda kitsch and geeky in terms of the imagery in the lyrics, I guess that's part of the appeal. It's not like the general subject of the songs is particularly different from most indie and pop, or indeed indie-pop, but the specifics of the implementation are a bit off-the-wall in places. It gives the album a unique selling point that, when married to the cute little compositions gives me a reason to keep coming back to it. Sweethearts in Disguise is another shift, a soft acoustic guitar leads this one. I particularly like the duet of the chorus. The female lead vocal is nice but when offset by an almost whisper-volume male underlay it really soars. I think I read somewhere that these songs were written long before the band got together or something, that the songwriter had years to work on them as a labour of love. If true, it shows; if not then some alchemy produced the same effect faster. Each song has a theme and focus, and a performance that embodies it. Musically it shifts the tone from track to track, whilst generally sticking in the light poppy genre.
We All Hid In Basements is a post-apocalyptic love song, sort of. The overall tone of the piece is fearful (of change, of lack of change, of technology, of the modern world), but the central message is a soppy love song about going through that with a loved one. The crescendo builds a nice more elaborate sound, set off by a really high pitched line singing through a wall of noisier low-end sound. It's a little post-rocky for a second; I really like that.
This is a short album, clocking in at just over half an hour for 10 tracks it means each one flies by and, given the tonal changes from song to song, that helps keep it really fresh. A bright, simple little guitar hook supports Two White Ghosts, a memory of TEFL (I guess) and finding solace in the arms of a fellow traveller. Its one of two weaker songs in the set, but it is still thoroughly listenable. Then we hit what has become my favourite ZvG song. Foxtrot Vandals is... well, what I imagine certain things I don't have to be like. It's a blitz of light, colour and overwhelming emotion wrapped up in a pacy, breathless song with an absolutely stunning little chorus:
My Persecution Complex is another peppy-paced number, more of a lovers tiff in a tune. Its catchy little rhythm, lovely little vocal, emotional honesty and tempo roll together into a very enjoyable track. The bridge is a mournful little string tune, which has just enough loneliness to it to really suck me in, and whilst the lead out gets a little dull, the song's work is done. Then we get the oddest and least accessible tune on the disc. Nae Wonder is a slow piece, ethereal strings backing alternating female/male lines which are definitely sung, but at a stately, speech-like quality. It then samples an old Scottish voice talking. The music never really picks up that much and whilst the swirling, tinkling bell-like sounds are nice enough, the song feels out of place really.
Cotton Covering returns to the same kind of pace of Foxtrot Vandals and My Persecution Complex, but has yet another subtly different tone to it. It's definitely another lovers song, but this is a rolling force of personality. the energy to this is more controlled, forceful, directed than the pure outburst of FV or the regretful release of MPC. The vocal shares some of the breathlessness, as a lot is crammed into lines that aren't given that much space by the constantly rolling guitars. The only pause for breath is in the chorus, which echoes the regretful themes from other tracks on the record. It's a wonder, but Foxtrot Vandals overtook it as my favourite tune here a while back.
The final piece is a slower, lower one. This provides a nice book-ending effect. The album opens and closes with soft sounds, starts and ends with differently expressed views of (absent) loves. I've found this listen difficult; much as I love these tunes, the speed at which they ticked by did not leave me much time to think. Whilst this final track gives me that as it has a bit more space in it, I ponder on the little romantic inside of me which leads me to be charmed by songs such as these. There's no doubt that this album is one of quirky love songs; that shouldn't mean much to me, but it does.
A final note for the album cover: the picture above is only part of the sleeve, it folds out into a wonderful little cartoony scene. I found the full imagery charming, like the songs on the disc it tells its own quirky story. It is that ever-so-slightly bizarre charm that really sells this record. One of the best you've never heard.
We open with a skittering, broken sort of sound that takes 20 seconds or so to resolve into an understated tune, and a wonderful vocal. The Best Treasure Stays Buried is a parting song, but one with the hope of reforming later. Its a story in a song, an after the event heist recount, a love song, a gorgeous little melody, a wellspring of hope. The chorus is... one of those my mind grabs onto sometimes as an embodiment of one of those things I miss out on as a perpetually single person. It's one of my favourite tunes, but I'm not sure its even my favourite on this album.
The tone shifts next, more uptempo but more kooky. Actually this whole album is kinda kitsch and geeky in terms of the imagery in the lyrics, I guess that's part of the appeal. It's not like the general subject of the songs is particularly different from most indie and pop, or indeed indie-pop, but the specifics of the implementation are a bit off-the-wall in places. It gives the album a unique selling point that, when married to the cute little compositions gives me a reason to keep coming back to it. Sweethearts in Disguise is another shift, a soft acoustic guitar leads this one. I particularly like the duet of the chorus. The female lead vocal is nice but when offset by an almost whisper-volume male underlay it really soars. I think I read somewhere that these songs were written long before the band got together or something, that the songwriter had years to work on them as a labour of love. If true, it shows; if not then some alchemy produced the same effect faster. Each song has a theme and focus, and a performance that embodies it. Musically it shifts the tone from track to track, whilst generally sticking in the light poppy genre.
We All Hid In Basements is a post-apocalyptic love song, sort of. The overall tone of the piece is fearful (of change, of lack of change, of technology, of the modern world), but the central message is a soppy love song about going through that with a loved one. The crescendo builds a nice more elaborate sound, set off by a really high pitched line singing through a wall of noisier low-end sound. It's a little post-rocky for a second; I really like that.
This is a short album, clocking in at just over half an hour for 10 tracks it means each one flies by and, given the tonal changes from song to song, that helps keep it really fresh. A bright, simple little guitar hook supports Two White Ghosts, a memory of TEFL (I guess) and finding solace in the arms of a fellow traveller. Its one of two weaker songs in the set, but it is still thoroughly listenable. Then we hit what has become my favourite ZvG song. Foxtrot Vandals is... well, what I imagine certain things I don't have to be like. It's a blitz of light, colour and overwhelming emotion wrapped up in a pacy, breathless song with an absolutely stunning little chorus:
and i just want to take you home againIn context its stunning, out of context here it looks trite. Maybe its just me.
so we can break the law
that keeps our feet down on the floorboards
nowhere to fall
My Persecution Complex is another peppy-paced number, more of a lovers tiff in a tune. Its catchy little rhythm, lovely little vocal, emotional honesty and tempo roll together into a very enjoyable track. The bridge is a mournful little string tune, which has just enough loneliness to it to really suck me in, and whilst the lead out gets a little dull, the song's work is done. Then we get the oddest and least accessible tune on the disc. Nae Wonder is a slow piece, ethereal strings backing alternating female/male lines which are definitely sung, but at a stately, speech-like quality. It then samples an old Scottish voice talking. The music never really picks up that much and whilst the swirling, tinkling bell-like sounds are nice enough, the song feels out of place really.
Cotton Covering returns to the same kind of pace of Foxtrot Vandals and My Persecution Complex, but has yet another subtly different tone to it. It's definitely another lovers song, but this is a rolling force of personality. the energy to this is more controlled, forceful, directed than the pure outburst of FV or the regretful release of MPC. The vocal shares some of the breathlessness, as a lot is crammed into lines that aren't given that much space by the constantly rolling guitars. The only pause for breath is in the chorus, which echoes the regretful themes from other tracks on the record. It's a wonder, but Foxtrot Vandals overtook it as my favourite tune here a while back.
The final piece is a slower, lower one. This provides a nice book-ending effect. The album opens and closes with soft sounds, starts and ends with differently expressed views of (absent) loves. I've found this listen difficult; much as I love these tunes, the speed at which they ticked by did not leave me much time to think. Whilst this final track gives me that as it has a bit more space in it, I ponder on the little romantic inside of me which leads me to be charmed by songs such as these. There's no doubt that this album is one of quirky love songs; that shouldn't mean much to me, but it does.
A final note for the album cover: the picture above is only part of the sleeve, it folds out into a wonderful little cartoony scene. I found the full imagery charming, like the songs on the disc it tells its own quirky story. It is that ever-so-slightly bizarre charm that really sells this record. One of the best you've never heard.
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