Odd Box Records

Exciting news from Odd Box on Monday 19th July we are releasing an 8 track remix album by The Smittens.  ‘Dancing Shoes’:  The Smittens Remixed is available to pre order now for just £3 (plus P&P) from the shop.  You can listen to the whole EP in this little flash player here:

The Smittens are a hard-working globe-trotting independent American twee pop band from Burlington, Vermont, who like to think of themselves as friends first and open-hearted indiepop revolutionaries after that.

Max Andrucki, Colin Clary, Dana Kaplan, Holly Chagnon, and David Zacharis switch up instruments, song-writing, and singing to create brilliantly lyrical and hyper-catchy pop songs of all shapes and sizes. ‘Dancing Shoes’ sees 8 of their songs lovingly remixed by the likes of Nixon (Roger Gunnarsson), Mark Robinson (Teenbeat Records) and  Steve Williams (North of January Records).

The full track list of the EP is:

01 Party Time (The Boston Boys Have the Cutest Butts mix by Mark Robinson)
02 The Garden (Mesclun Mix by Greg Davis)
03 Army of Popkids (Less Army, More Pop Mix by Dana Julie Kaplan)
04 Sapphire (Stock-Aitken-Waterman Mix by Nixon)
05 Baby, Don’t You Know? (Kochalka Quality Mix by James Kochalka)
06 Momus, Where Are You? (Oil and Water Mix by Ryan Power)
07 Pretty Boy (Premix/Remix by Colin Clary)
08 Twitterpated (Twitterpated 2005! Mix by Steve Williams)

I first heard The Smittens in 2005.  The band were a big buzz on the indiepop underground around that time and I fell instantly for their pop charms.  Since then I’ve had the pleasure of seeing the band perform in crowded bars in London, New York and Boston.   I’ve also been wowed by their now regular performances at the Indietracks festival here in the UK.

When the chance arose to release this EP,  I jumped at the opportunity and the resulting ‘Dancing Shoes:  The Smittens Remixed’ is everything I hoped it would be.  The Smittens’ beautiful pop songs have been lovingly tweaked and transformed into a series of infectious remixes that, whilst not detracting from their indiepop hearts, manage to bring a whole new dimension of dance-ability to their pop sound.   The Stock-Aitken-Watermen-inspired remix of ‘Sapphire’ by Nixon is one of those rare ‘wow’ moments when a song you already love is given a makeover you’d never thought possible.  It’s this playful toying with perceptions of what The Smittens are that makes ‘Dancing Shoes’ such a beautiful and unexpected record.

The band is a fixture on the international indiepop festival circuit with multiple appearances at the Indietracks festival, Athens Popfest, NYC Popfest, Popfest New England, San Francisco Popfest, London Popfest, and the Cosy Den Festival in Stockholm. This summer The Smittens are planning their most ambitious adventure yet with 14 shows across the UK and Europe. The band are currently at work on their 4th studio album and they have a few new tracks coming out on compilations in the near future.