Disco de Duncan Dhu: “Shoe Fetish: A Tribute to”

That the Shoes made great records is, for me, beyond question, and you probably wouldn't even be considering this collection if you weren't already a Shoes fan. This is a shame because even if you didn't know all the songs were from the same source, this disc makes a great collection of late 20th Century guitar pop. The big question is, as with all tributes, will anyone do anything rather than just play the songs straight, and turn this into a great collection of 21st Century pop? Strangely, the performances with female vocalists seem to work particularly well, so the Astropuppies "The Tube", The Masticators "Your Imagination" and Big Hello's "Tomorrow Night" all sound great, somehow the change to a feminine perspective definitely gives the songs a new edge. The better known performers, DM3, Matthew Sweet, The Shazam and Walter Clevenger, lend their distinctive voices to the songs but do not stray far from the originals. Particularly noteworthy attempts come from Sparklejets UK with a punchy "Cruel You", Doug Powell fairly rips through "She Satisfies" dropping in a successful but very un-Shoes-like guitar outburst, Michael Carpenter has some fun with a lively "Love Is Like A Bullet", and Don Dixon and Marti Jones perform a beautifully sensitive "Only In My Sleep". Less enjoyable are Al Chan's weak effort on "I Miss You" but to be fair this is not among the Shoes strongest songs, having only appeared on compilations, also slightly disappointing is the contribution of the Spongetones, one time Shoes label mates no less, with a lacklustre stab at "Curiosity". Missing artists that could've been contenders? Well, Teenage Fanclub, Fountains of Wayne, Velvet Crush, Wheatus, and Fastball to name a few, and from outside planet Power Pop it may have been interesting to hear some seriously quirky song interpreters like Cat Power or Mark Kozelek having a stab. Songwise most are drawn from the Shoes twin peaks of the "Present Tense" and "Tongue Twister" albums, no argument there, but some more input from the first and last Shoes releases would have been interesting. I can't believe nobody picked "Fire for A While" or "If You'd Stay" from "Black Vinyl Shoes" or that they passed over "Animal Attraction" and "Tore A Hole" from "Propeller". Though I suppose no two fans, performers or not, are likely go for the same tracks. So getting to the point, if what you really want to know is, as a Shoes fan and/or a pop fan is this collection worth having? Well despite the above ifs buts and maybes, and the fact that nobody really pushes any boundaries, I've enjoyed it immensely, both as a great pop collection and from the aspect of hearing a new slant on the familiar. Yup buy it.

what a tribute cd should be!--this is an excellent cd with truly inspired performances. this cd holds up on its own and is a great collection of songs. I really hope that all people who love music and are a fan of the SHOES will go out and buy it.