You Need To Hear: Shoes And Socks Off (Artist Review)

So, today is 'Meet Me St. Louis Day' and marks two years since the release of one of Britians finest progressive albums; the bands debut 'Varations On Swing'. It was the bands jaw dropping rhythms, ball bustingly intricate guitar lines, howling vocals and inpeccable melodies that are why the Surrey based outfit are deeply missed today and why this album is one of the most celebrated pieces of music in underground history! Since the split, various members have joined various bands, featuring bassist Lewis Reynolds who recently played bass in london based quartete 'Colour'; a band with a similiar progressive sound to that of MIMSL, but with a pop twist; basically, they were utterly brilliant and they've just played their last show just the other week :( gutted!

But, in this article I would like to focus on MIMSL frontman; Toby Hayes. After a short stint playing bass in grunge meets prog trio 'Shield Your Eyes', Hayes decided to pick up his battered acoustic guitar and began to write stripped down acoustic songs. And it was this time last year (almost a year to the day since MMISL released 'Varitations...') that Hayes sat in his flat in Whitechapel and in just one afternoon recorded a 10 track record of these fragile yet beautifully melodic songs, later going under the name of 'Shoes And Socks Off'. The album was then released in December 2008 on the 'Big Scary Monsters' label, entitled 'From The Muddy Banks Of Melitzer'. Soon after the albums release, Hayes announced that he would re-record the record but with additional help from other musicians in order to give the record a slightly fuller feel; a re-imagining if you will. 'Hand-Reared Suburban Piglet' is its title and was released September 14th on BSM and is a truely stunning re-working of the original. 'Piglet...' still carries the intense, soulful beauty that lied in 'Melitzer' but it seems to breathe new life into the songs, it even gives some songs a new whole new meaning, with a much more electronic feel in terms of distorted vocals, looped percussion and reverbed keyboards. This really feels the work of a genius here; one of the most interesting projects I've come across as a both musician and music lover and according to BSM, Hayes is mid-way through recording his second record proper, in effect his third. It's yet to be announced what kind of record it will be, but if these two are anything to go by, come its release in December, Toby Hayes is going to become an underground hero!

Download: Butterfingers

Both albums; 'From The Muddy Banks Of Melitzer' & 'Hand-Reared Suburban Piglet' are available on both CD format or download from Big Scary Monster records at: http://www.bsmrocks.com/shop

For more details and to hear clips from the first album, please check out Tobys Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/shoesandsocksoff

or, you can check out his blog musings at: http://shoesandsocksoff.blogspot.com/