The press kit states it. The melodies enforce it. The album cover screams it.So it must be true: White Shoes & The Couples Company are not just Indonesia's indie pop ambassadors, they are apparently the beacons for the country's 1970s telemovie scene. It makes them all the more exotic, and thus its no surprise that tastemakers 16,000 kilometres away (yeah, I did the math) are buzzing. Buzzing as in, being picked up by Chocago-based Minty Fresh Records (who also host Liz Phair, The Cardigans, Veruca Salt, Bettie Serveert, Astrid Swan, manymanymore), talked about in Music For Robots and My Old Kentucky Blog, and swagged by Rolling Stone mag as being MySpace pacesetters and by Allmusic as crushworthy. And now, they've got a new mini-album out, with six tracks and a promise to sashay into the sunset with your lovestruck hienie.
It's all fully deserving. Except for one thing: the comparison is way wrong. In the 1970s, films from this part of the world were totally ahead of their time. I mean, Southeast Asian filmmakers had kungfu-savvy tapirs doing battle with three-legged spiders in bikini tops. They had motorbikes that could transform into coconut trees. They had coconut trees that could joget and swallow a whole keris at the same time. All that, against the backdrop of drum 'n bass throbs that would have easily piledrived all those tabla thwackers coming out of Bollywood.
So like, what they heck were the White Shoes chaps watching? Sheesh. Such deprived childhoods.
Track list:
1. Prelude
2. Super Reuni
3. Pelan Tapi Pasti
4. Roman Ketiga
5. Today is No Sunday
6. Aksi Kucing
Alas, I've got nothing from the new one. So here's something from their 2005 self-titled album, which is being re-released in the States. Good move, since it's a dainty treat, perfect for Isobel Campbell-era Belle and Sebastian aficionados. Still no traces of kungfu-savvy tapirs though.
White Shoes & The Couples Company - Nothing to Fear (from White Shoes & The Couples Company)
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