Control is a pretty apposite title for GoodBooks' debut album as they spend most of their time making sure every little aspect of their music is in place. They assemble each song seemingly from the ground up, hanging sonic trinkets on each guitar line and rhythmic pulse. A bell here, a whistle there, but sometimes the intricacy gets in the way of GoodBooks just cutting loose and letting their highly-developed sense for melody take over.
When Control is good, it's very, very good. 'The Curse Of Saul' takes a rinky-dink toy piano house refrain, rips the bassline from Giorgio Moroder's 'Sooner Or Later' and some great white-funk guitar and knocks it out of the park. Also, 'Walk With Me' has a bombastic ambition that is at odds with the increasingly parochial British indie scene.
Elsewhere though, on the torpid 'Good Life Salesman' they're borderline embarrassing. A song that Athlete would pass on for being a bit too wet, it kicks off a mid-album sag that they struggle to recover from. Also, on the otherwise sweet, heartfelt 'Violent Man Lovesong', the self-conscious trickery and need to come off like a British Postal Service just flattens what could have been a beautiful ballad.
If they stop hiding behind their urges to show everyone just how offbeat they are and let the songs speak for themselves they could be a special little pop band. For now though, just the promise of better to come is enough.
http://www.highvoltage.org.uk/displaydemoreview.asp?num=2904&band=1482
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