| CD REVIEW Souls |
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Band : Souls This British band came together in the Summer of 2003 when former members of West Country based Spin and Submatrix joined in a new venture. In October 2003 they recorded 3 tracks for a first demo, which got enough positive response to show the guys (which were then, are now, and will hopefully be for a long time to come...take a breather...singer/ guitarist Dean Bryant, guitarist Ben Noble, bassist Jason "JH" Tovey, and drummer Jamie Noble) they were on the right track. The foursome (operating now from the Bristol/ Bath area) did their live debut as a new unit in January of 2004, then tightened their bonds and musical play over the course of rehearsals and more live shows, and wrote new material which got recorded in Winter 2004. The Sugar Shack imprint was found willing to release the guys' 10-track debut album Gold Dust, and issued it in April 2006 to positive reaction from both the press and music fans in Britain. In the course of their career, the boys have done tours with the likes of Alamos, Six By Seven, and The Scare, played at the Blue Areoplanes headlined Itchicoo Festival, and have had radio spot plays on several online radio stations. The new album, which displays clear and evident influences (as cited in the label and band bio) from Queens Of The Stone Age to Serafin, Cave-In and Nirvana, from Cooper Temple Clause to Killing Joke, was recorded by Portishead live sound engineer Rik Downing in several sessions from March through June 2007, but eventually the guys had to leave their former label, as release date kept being postponed. In stead they ecstatically signed to Lockjaw in March 2008. The material present comes over as a brooding Alternative Rock with a definite dark side, which is however quite compellingly attractive! The relative simplicity of the somewhat repetitive guitars (down-tuned? I'm not sure) makes for catchy tunes, and once you've heard Bryant sing you're simply hung up on him (he's got this slightly hoarse and develishly melancholic voice)! Simply surf to myspace.com/soulsarmy (or the band's website soulsarmy.co.uk) to find out what this band are about, but be warned that their music is highly addictive. One shot of the 5 songs posted (2 of which only are off the new album) will get you pleasantly hooked...but then music ain't no poison, right? With 11 songs on the track-list, you'll find that album closer "Troubadour" is followed by a 5-minute silence, after which you're treated to a very nice hidden song. For the moment, the guys have only posted a couple of gigs in Britain, so hopefully there's full-blown Uk tour to follow.I mean, these kids deserve to get their music heard among music fans all over the Kingdom!!! And who knows, if such a tour turns out to be successful enough, they might get thrown onto a Continental tour of Europe! I can't help it, but in my book this is yet again an essential buy. In fact, next time I'm in the record store I'm gonna inform myself about the availability of their debut album! Because thís album sounds tóó wickedly good! 98/100 Tony. |