Making a determined effort to exceed what would be expected of a band tagged "darlings of the west end", this vinyl release from Zoey van Goey proved to be something of a treat.
"Sweethearts in Disguise" shows just what you can happen when a band focuses their ability into making music rather than getting famous. The lyrics have a simple premise - no one wants the truth anymore, they just want to be told that it will all work out fine. Rather more depth than your average pop song here. The same goes for the music. It has been carefully and lovingly arranged into a confection of aural pleasures that tantalise your ears and Kim Moore's wistful vocals are the icing on the cake.
On the flipside is "Lick a 99". This song is a rather more twee bit of electro pop but, hell, there aren't enough songs that highlight the joys of ice cream about these days (were there ever?) so we should welcome it. Ah, the simple pleasures of life! It is almost too cute but it doesn't take long to warm to it.
If you want to make great pop music then you've got to have imagination and style. Treading in someone else's footsteps might be the safest route but that is not the route that Zoey van Goey has taken. This truly is intelligent and classy pop music. It might well fit into the indie pop genre but this band is just too good to be categorised that easily.