I wish all smart people made music like No Shoes - rather than getting too serious about it. Listen to the first minute of ‘Sharkjaw Beartrap’ (streaming below) and you’ll no doubt be amazed by some serious acrobatics, their insistent drum lines and overactive fret tapping guitar action. But while focusing on the band's technical proficiency, you’ll also probably ask yourself why these guys are screaming about sharks… and what is that weird five-eyed monster doing drinking out of a straw on their bandcamp? While these are probably questions best left unanswered, you have plenty of other things to keep you busy here. No Shoes is a band in such lockstep that even the vocals are all sung in time like a tenacious chant repeated in unison throughout most every song from their new EP ‘Cow Drawings.’

Being smart is one thing… but still making sure your music is fun and raucous enough to make you want to learn all the lyrics to songs about ghosts and lightbulbs ‘Hopscotch (and Tumbling)’ - is quite another. And dammit… that’s what they’ve managed to do. - Mike Levine (@Goldnuggets)