There's a certain sameness to the music of Shoes. I say that not to diminish the band's skills, but to highlight how consistent they were over and over in mastering a certain kind of power-pop. Heck, even with many fans of the form debating the basic definition of that genre, it would be hard to find someone who didn't acknowledge that the tunes of Shoes were undoubtedly power-pop. And not only power-pop, but perfect examples of the style. That was true of the material of the band's early years, and just as true when said about what's here on Elektrafied: The Elektra Years 1979-1982, a superb new box-set out now from Cherry Red Records.
Gary Klebe, Jeff and John Murphy, and Skip Meyer signed to Elektra Records after having some limited success regionally, and on smaller labels for earlier releases. The jump to a major label saw the band first courted by Seymour Stein of Sire. Stein, as the excellent liner notes booklet recounts, made the band an offer that wouldn't entirely have seen them able to support themselves, and Kenny Buttice of Elektra, looking for the next Jackson Browne (!), made the band a better pitch. Released in 1979, Present Tense is the first of the three Elektra albums here. It is nearly perfect. "Too Late", the textbook example of what power-pop is is here, as is "Tomorrow Night", but there are other pleasures too. "Now and Then" is slightly harder but no less amazing, while "In Your Arms Again" remains one of the band's best bits of Beatles-esque magic. This is just fantastic crunchy rock, with hooks overflowing on most of these simple tracks. Even on the slightly more complex "Your Very Eyes", the melody is well-served by a more layered production, but it's still a Shoes number so it's all about being catchy. Present Tense is marvelous still, and one of those records that anyone who loves Jason Falkner, Tommy Keene, and Fountains of Wayne, for example, simply must hear and own.
Tongue Twister was released in January 1981, mere weeks after the death of John Lennon, and while the sound is every so slightly harder here, the music is, overall, still heavily in debt to things Lennon (and McCartney) composed in their early, formative years. "Burned Out Love" chimes, while "She Satisfies", the lead single, rocks. Still, the crisp "Girls of Today" foreshadows lots of what Marshall Crenshaw would release a year later, while the glorious "When It Hits" is like some nice mix of Cheap Trick and what Smithereens would end up doing. "Only in My Sleep" and "Yes or No" offer further proof of producer Richard Dashut's expert touch here on Tongue Twister a record that's only slightly less perfect than its predecessor.
The third Shoes album for Elektra was not as successful. Yet for all the justified criticism leveled at 1982's Boomerang, there are pleasures here. "Too Soon" rings with a lot of promise, while "Double Talk" succeeds despite the production's era-trappings. If the keyboards on some these numbers here are obtrusive, and date the material a great deal, a fan can find things here that work. "In Her Shadow" and "Curiosity" are quite good, and most bands would kill for material this strong. Still, placed in context next to the earlier Shoes albums, there's no denying that Boomerang is fairly weak. The band produced themselves on this one, and a listener is likely to feel like the songs are trying too hard, are too long, and not quite punchy enough (despite the volume here). Still, Boomerang is a lot better than what some power-pop purveyors are peddling in 2020, you know?
The fourth disc on Elektrafied: The Elektra Years 1979-1982 is the rarities disc, even though lots of bonus cuts are sprinkled on Discs 1, 2, and 3 next to the albums proper. Disc 4 here has numbers like "Jet Set (Demo Version 1)" which is just gloriously crunchy, as is "Take You Away (Demo Version 1)". "Karen (Acoustic Version)" works better than the more produced rendition on Boomerang, as does "In Her Shadow (Demo Version 1)", frankly. The real draw of Disc 4 of Elektrafied: The Elektra Years 1979-1982 is the presence of the 6-song Shoes on Ice live set. Sounding better than one can possibly imagine, this is like a mini At Budokan for fans of power-pop. Recorded in 1981 at Zion Arena in Illinois, this is great material. "Too Late" soars, while "Hangin' Around with You" vamps with menace and a big central hook. Listening to this set, especially the New Wave gem "Cruel You", one wonders why this band wasn't HUGE.
I think that's the central mystery of Elektrafied: The Elektra Years 1979-1982, isn't it? There's a poignancy here when playing this, thinking of what might have been had this band become the next Cheap Trick or something. And that's not a knock on Cheap Trick for being so popular, but, rather, an acknowledgement of just how well-considered the Shoes material was. At least on the first two Elektra albums. For being lumped in with a bunch of skinny tie bands, Shoes were more serious about their craft than the winking Knack, you know? I mean, what you're hearing here is exactly what the fictitious band The Wonders would have sounded like had they stayed together and toured the Midwest a bit more. Nearly everything on this box-set is exactly how power-pop should be, with big hooks and choppy chords given room to rule here. Even the minor missteps of the band on their third Elektra album are not huge ones in the grand scheme of their career. Heck, nearly everything you and I love from the last few decades, like Fountains of Wayne, The Smithereens, Marshall Crenshaw, Jellyfish, Spoon, Tommy Keene, and Jellyfish, owes a huge debt to this band. A huge one.
Elektrafied: The Elektra Years 1979-1982 is out now via Cherry Red Records.
More details on Shoes via the band's official website.
[Photo: Cherry Red Records]