Logo
DiS Needs You: Save our site »
  • Logo_home2
  • Records
  • In Depth
  • In Photos
  • Blog
  • Podcast
  • Search
  • Community
  • Records
  • In Depth
  • Blog
  • Community

THIS SITE HAS BEEN ARCHIVED AND CLOSED.

Please join the conversation over on our new forums »

If you really want to read this, try using The Internet Archive.

Good Books

Passchendaele

Label: Columbia Records Release Date: 16/07/2007

26004
shain by Shain Shapiro July 23rd, 2007

'Passchendaele' tells the story of a tiny town in Belgium that suffered heavily in WWI through the eyes of a young soldier wondering what all the fussing and feuding is about. Strong lyrically, it’s a lovely ditty that goes on the pull for perfect pop, coming up trumps via electronic pokes and prods, tonal guitar strumming, Britpop piano and a choral flugelhorn accompaniment.

A definite nod to early Travis and Gomez abounds, but instead of coming off as a copy-and-paste affair, these GoodBooks inscribe a sense of originality on ‘Passchendaele’, one that spews from each melody as if they have been singing about the Great War all their life.

A preview from their forthcoming debut album Control, out at the end of July, this is a promising and enticing introduction to a band that could become a mainstay in the hearts and minds of pop lovers – if each song on said long-player is as good as this one, a classic could emerge. Plus, instead of blaring on about women and sex to plaintive Britpop, the high road is taken here, as the quartet writes about something interesting, like history. Does chalking on about history does get the girls? Does it matter? Bravo.

  • 8
    Shain Shapiro's Score
Log-in to rate this record out of 10
Share on
   
Love DiS? Become a Patron of the site here »


LATEST


  • Drowned in Sound's Albums of the Year 2025


  • Why Music Journalism Matters in 2024


  • Drowned in Sound is back!


  • Drowned in Sound's 21 Favourite Albums of the Year: 2020


  • Drowned in Sound to return as a weekly newsletter


  • Lykke Li's Sadness Is A Blessing



Left-arrow

Kevin Drew

Spirit If...

Mobback
26000
26005

A Sunny Day In Glasgow

Tout New Age

Mobforward
Right-arrow


LATEST

    news


    Drowned in Sound's Albums of the Year 2025

  • 106149
  • news


    Why Music Journalism Matters in 2024

  • 106145

    news


    Drowned in Sound is back!

  • 106143
  • news


    Drowned in Sound's 21 Favourite Albums of the Y...

  • 106141

    news


    Drowned in Sound to return as a weekly newsletter

  • 106139
  • Playlist


    Lykke Li's Sadness Is A Blessing

  • 106138

    Festival Preview


    Glastonbury 2019 preview playlist + ten alterna...

  • 106137
  • Interview


    A Different Kind Of Weird: dEUS on The Ideal Crash

  • 106136
MORE


    feature


    Elliott Smith 10yrs Gone: DiS' editor on the br...

  • 93253
  • feature


    The National: "We nearly lost our minds making ...

  • 30199

    feature


    Les Savy Fav discuss Inches

  • 32859
  • feature


    Teen idols: M83 all hung up on the retro flicks...

  • 94790

    review


    Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours

  • 36782
  • Interview


    DiS Meets Tori Amos: "You have to be able to si...

  • 95677

    Column


    Drowned In Sound's 40 Favourite Songs of 2014

  • 98608
  • Interview


    The Magic, the Mundane and The Maccabees

  • 100676
MORE

Drowned in Sound
  • DROWNED IN SOUND
  • HOME
  • SITE MAP
  • NEWS
  • IN DEPTH
  • IN PHOTOS
  • RECORDS
  • RECOMMENDED RECORDS
  • ALBUMS OF THE YEAR
  • FESTIVAL COVERAGE
  • COMMUNITY
  • MUSIC FORUM
  • SOCIAL BOARD
  • REPORT ERRORS
  • CONTACT US
  • JOIN OUR MAILING LIST
  • FOLLOW DiS
  • GOOGLE+
  • FACEBOOK
  • TWITTER
  • SHUFFLER
  • TUMBLR
  • YOUTUBE
  • RSS FEED
  • RSS EMAIL SUBSCRIBE
  • MISC
  • TERM OF USE
  • PRIVACY
  • ADVERTISING
  • OUR WIKIPEDIA
© 2000-2026 DROWNED IN SOUND