As a general concept, me and shoes don’t really agree. When your choice of footwear is circumscribed by the twin necessities of orthotics and a 6 cm raise on the left foot, you tend to stick with one pair for as long as is humanly possible. But when The Shoes are French and sound like sunset electro at a party where only summertime exists, well then I start to give a shit. As far as I’m concerned, right now The Shoes (two mysterious pairs of footwear known as ‘B’ and ‘G’) are producing nigh-on perfect electro pop: disco-fit, tongue-in-cheek four minute sermons on everything that is simple and happy about dance music. They may not all be dance-floor napalm, but try and listen to these tunes without feeling at least the beginnings of a smile creeping through your mouth. It’s tough.

I must admit I’m a fairly late convert to the cause - it wasn’t until I picked up their remix of Primary 1’s ‘Hold Me Down’ through some best of 2007 lists that I started taking any notice. If you haven’t heard that particular piece of soaring electro magic yet, then I strongly suggest you grab it now. But the more I hear, the more excited I get. Their remix of Just A Band’s ‘We Are…’ (who have been previously profiled here) turns the storming original into a cruising, call-and-response electro funker, while the 80Kidz remix of The Shoes own track ‘Knock Out’ is a swarming, uplifting anthem that could do untold carnage to dance-floors everywhere.

With the release of ‘Knock Out’, their first EP, garnering serious attention in the mainstream music press, an upcoming string of dates in Japan and America set to export them overseas, and remix work coming in from artists as diverse as the Mystery Jets, Hadouken! and Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly. it’s probably fair to assume that 2008 could see big things coming for The Shoes. In the meantime, ‘Knock Out’ is out through The Shoes’ very own Green United Music and 50 Bones, and can be picked up on 7″ or digitally via Pure Groove. And to sweeten the deal, they’ve just pumped out a disarmingly cute, and disarmingly free song called ‘Baby I’m For Real’ through their MySpace, which just makes them all the cooler. Get into it people.

Primary 1 - Hold Me Down (The Shoes Remix) [YSI]
Primary 1 - Hold Me Down (The Shoes Remix) [MediaFire]

Just A Band - We Are… (The Shoes Remix) [YSI]
Just A Band - We Are… (The Shoes Remix) [MediaFire]

The Shoes - Knock Out (80Kidz Remix) [YSI]
The Shoes - Knock Out (80Kidz Remix) [MediaFire]

-luke