White Shoes & The Couples Company
(Minty Fresh Records)
As a child I watched a lot of old television shows (i.e. Mary Tyler Moore Show, Get Smart, The Bob Newhart Show, The Dyke Van Dyke, F-Troop, Dragnet...anything that was playing on Nick at Nite when Nick at Nite was on Nickelodeon and there wasn't a channel dedicated to 5 hour blocks of the Cosby show everyday). I feel that this was a major point in my life. I discovered 'Classic' shows that my parents and grandparents were raised on, and I've noticed that quite a few of my friends also share a fondness for these shows.
That being noted, I was very happy the first time I heard the Indonesian sextet, White Shoes & The Couples Company. They had all the makings of a 70's show...wardrobe included.
White Shoes & The Couples Company self-titled album , available on Minty Fresh, is a breathe of fresh air for me in this slow moving indie pop world. Their light harmonies, sparse arrangements and flowing melodies make it easy to stare off just reminiscing about your childhood over a cup of tea. Its no wonder All Music Guide named them one of their "25 Most Crush Worthy" bands last year .
White Shoes formed in 2002 at an art institute at Cikini, central Jakarta. Two lover from the fine art faculty Rio & Sari decided to form a band together with their ffriend in the faculty named Saleh. This was the first formation of White Shoes & The Couples Company, which featured Sari on vocal & violin, Rio on rhythm guitar and Saleh on melody guitar. The three of them made their first debut as White Shoes & The Couples Company at a college event. However, the trio formation diverged from their original plan when Sari and Rio had keenly asked a married couple from the music faculty to join the band. The couples was Ricky Surya Virgana & Mela Virgana. Yet the couple was hard to meet since they were busy lecturing and covering for orchestras. Several months later, the couple join White Shoes & The Couples Company with Ricky on Bass and cello and Mela on viola, keyboards and piano. White Shoes & The Couples Company did not have a drummer in the beginining, but Ricky took the initiative to ask a friend at his faculty namely John Navid to play drums for one event at the BB's Bar. How ever, as the time went by John eventually became a permanent drummer in 2004. Thus, the final formation of White Shoes & The Couples Company was set.
I feel like it would be cheating you not to give you as many songs from White Shoes & The Couples Company, but I don't want to infringe on anyone, so I'll put them up in the form of videos. I can't pick a favorite song, but do yourself a favor and go get this album. You won't regret it.
Track 2 Tentang Cita
Tentang Cita (White Shoes and the Couples Company)
Track 4 Windu & Defrina
Track 6 Sunday Memory Lane
Track 8 Senandung Maaf
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