
From the very beginning in the mid 70s they had a DIY ethos that always rang true in their recordings, even when they were produced in lavish studios in the latter half of the 80s. The songs were short, tight and ... well exactly what power pop songs should be. Still their best work was their early work especially 1979's Present Tense and 1981's Tongue Twister. The band had quite the range from the jangly, twee like "Your Very Eyes", to the spikey new wavish "Your Imagination", to the Jam like (trust me on this one) "Cruel You", to the ephemeral and very British "Every Girl". The Shoes pretty much drew the map for future indie pop bands to follow.