Go Zoey, Go Go Go

Like the eligibility rules for international football that see Nigerians playing for Poland, Englishmen playing for Scotland, and Brazilians playing for just about everyone, the conventions for deciding where a band originates from are haphazard at best. Garbage are Scottish only because their singer is; Snow Patrol are apparently Scottish because the Northern Irishmen met in Dundee; Franz Ferdinand are Scottish despite only the drummer being born here; and Rod Stewart is Scottish because he says he wants to be, in his sharp cockney tongue. Meet Zoey Van Goey, the latest international band who we’ll claim as our own to strengthen the team: Kim from down south, Matt from Canada, and Michael John from Ireland.

“Kim and I both studied at Glasgow Uni, and Matt studied at Stirling Uni but towards the end of his time there he moved to Glasgow,” Michael John tells me in a noisy Edinburgh bar. Matt continues: “On St Patrick's Day I randomly met Michael John on the street and he was looking for a drummer, and – I’m a drummer! Within days we were jamming”.

But that quick gestation hasn’t continued to prolific output: after forming in 2006, the Zoeys released a debut single, produced by Belle & Sebastian’s Stuart Murdoch, in 2007, and another single dropped this year. Most importantly, this year has seen their star grow as they've performed at six summer festivals, including a headline slot on T in the Park's T Break stage. "We missed REM," Michael John laments about unexpectedly headlining. "Weirdly enough we got quite a big crowd, and they were all very into it. Obviously they just couldn’t find their way to REM! They actually started a chant for us, they were like “Zoey! Zoey! Zoey”! Or it might’ve been a “Goey! Goey!”, or even a “Go away! Go away!”".

As careless as missing REM is, seeing the Zoeys instead is a fine substitution to make. That they're all talented enough to regularly swap instruments on-stage is impressive, but of secondary importance to the simple ability to write good pop songs. Cities explode, the apocalypse is coming, hostages are taken, but Zoey couch it all in such charming and graceful folk that it's comforting, not troubling. Kim's gorgeous airy vocals are a key part in that, but the boys lend their distinctive voices too, giving songs like Two White Ghosts an extra dimension. While lightweight indie bands like Belle & Seb and The Postal Service are precedents to an extent, Kim's vocals and their electronic dabbling make it less easy to draw parallels.

But at this current rate of recording, we’ll get the London Olympics, Chinese Democracy, and maybe even Chinese democracy before an album comes out, eh? “We just finished recording it with Paul Savage [The Delgados], and it’s about 80% done,” Matt assures. “We still need to tweak a few things and get it mastered, get the artwork done and that stuff. Early next year is our plan [to get it out].” They have a provisional name, which we shan't divulge, but it alludes to the depths of their superficially positive sound. “It’s just a working title, it’s quite ambiguous, I feel that runs through the lyrics of a lot of the songs we do. You’re not sure whether you should be happy about it or not.”

That's true. Zoey Van Goey's elegance could make any story sound good. The cities could be exploding, but if it was the Zoeys who broke the news, we'd barely notice a bump. Aye, let's claim them for Scotland: they could soon be key players.