Product Description

'Control' is the debut album from indie-dance hopefuls, GoodBooks. A compelling mash-up of Hot Chip and Athlete, the album hums with great ideas, hooks and creative energy. Includes the singles 'Leni' and 'Passchendaele'.

Track Listing

1. Beautiful To Watch
2. Illness
3. Passchendaele
4. Curse Of Saul
5. Alice
6. Good Life Salesman
7. Violent Man Lovesong
8. Last Day
9. Walk With Me
10. Leni
11. Turn It Back
12. Start/Stop

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #43559 in Music
• Released on: 2007-07-30
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk Artist Description
On their debut album Control, GoodBooks comfortably establish themselves as the most arresting and idiosyncratic new band of 2007. They have the angular intrigue of that great-lost art rock act The Auteurs, coupled with the nervy eclecticism of Talking Heads at their peak. They write profound and involving songs inspired by Kafka, terrorism, the Bible and--why not?--lesbian crushes, while musically their rhythms are sinuous and kinetic, with mournful trumpets and clattering, vivid percussion. They really don't do ordinary at all. Only Guillemots come close in terms of a band so thoroughly in and of itself, and are consequently worth much more than mere cursory investigation. "Underneath the relatively complicated ideas that form most of our songs," Max says, "I think we are still a very acceptable pop act." "It's true," Leo adds. "We have potential for widespread appeal, I reckon." Widespread, yes, and way beyond.

Customer Reviews

Fantastic
This is one of the best albums I have heard in ages - the songs are unique and catchy with the perfect balance of electronic and indie. I've been recommending it to all my friends, who also love it.
Intelligent lyrics, a recognisable voice (which I always count as a positive) with a better range than mine and a great live show (I've seen them twice) win Goodbooks my ultimate brownie points.

GoodBooks sing GreatSongs
After 3 listens I really love this album - I saw them live a few months ago after listening to a few of their songs on MySpace and like another reviewer I was a) impressed by their live act and b) shocked by how young they looked. They remind me at times a bit of the Arctic Monkeys - in the sense that their musical maturity belies their actual age.

The songs are quite a mixture - some quite poppy catchy ones and others more complex. The first time I listened to the album, I thought there were some quite weak songs on there, but on second listen my attitude changed - in my mind that's always a sign of a good band for me.

It's the kind of album also where I wonder what's going to come next - are they going to move into more mainstream or will they push the indie side more (I very much hope the latter).

Scarily good
I love this CD, it is so scarily good. OK from their photos the band look like they're still at school, but if you don't get it now, in 10 or 20 years time you will be voting it to the top of polls of greatest lost debut albums & petitioning record companies to re-release it. It clearly sits there in an English prog rock/pop tradition, following in the footsteps of early Soft Machine, Caravan, Hatfield & The North, Robert Wyatt, Kevin Ayers, even Nick Drake & Syd Barrett. The singing is both effete & affecting, the musicianship belies their age.