Interview: Good Shoes - Walking the Streets of South London Thursday, January 18, 2007 Jane Gazzo
Treacherous train stations, skinheads in Burberry and fans asking for relationship advice – On the eve of their debut album release, Good Shoes Rhys Jones, Tom Jones and Steve Leach take us for a tour through the streets of their town.
Musically speaking, 2007 looks to be setting itself up as the year of the debut. With offerings from Jamie T, The Klaxons, The View, Little Man Tate, Dartz, Ripcordand Enter Shikari ready to be thrown at the baited public breath – suddenly the world seems exciting again as these new talents come to the fore. Young bands are going to have to make a big noise this year if they’re to be heard in amongst the crowd.
Good Shoes are aware of this fact. Having already released three singles and garnered attention from all the right industry people – they know there’ll be some tough competition when their debut album Think Before You Speak hits the shops in March.
The group signed with new-ish label Brille Records just over a year ago and are keen that all goes well.
“I think this is equal to what a lot of other bands out there are putting out at the moment,” says confident front man and guitarist Rhys Jones of their impending debut. “I think the album is an accurate snap shot of us at this point.”
Jones , barely out of his teens, formed Good Shoes with his best pal, guitarist Steve Leach in 2005; eventually bringing in Jones’s brother Tom on drums and school friend Joel Cox on bass. The independently released singles Small Town Girl and All in My Head as well as exciting live shows began to establish the group as ones-to-watch thanks to influences and comparisons to The Cure, Futureheads and XTC. Having grown up in and around South London (Wimbledon and Morden to be exact), Jones presents the microcosmic world he’s inhabited through a series of relationships, social observations and
