Souls She Said - As Templar Nites (Poptones)
4/5
By: Chris Pratt
This might be their debut album, but Joe Cardamone and Don Devore, the duo who make up Los Angeles' Souls She Said, are no strangers to the world of rock n' roll thanks to their day job as key members of The Icarus Line (Devore also used to play in Ink & Dagger, don't forget). You know The Icarus Line, right? They're those Rolling Stones-meets-Black Flag punk-rock sleazebags decked out in red shirts, black ties and buckets of smudged eye make-up. The guys who started a riot at a Hard Rock Café gig when one of them smashed open a glass cabinet containing one of the late Stevie Ray Vaughan's guitars, then hilariously plugged it in and attempted to play it.
The feather-ruffling, controversial streak of their 'other band' takes a back seat to a new appreciation for thoughtfully diverse dynamics here, which is why it's so surprising to learn that this nine-tracker was largely improvised in the studio with a carefully selected cast of auxiliary musicians. Opener 'Sunken City' is pretty damn perfect, with its bruised, heartstring-tugging hooks backed up by a pleasingly mechanical rhythm section (the fuzzed-up bass line reverberates with krautrocking relentlessness) and gleeful stabs of distorted guitar calling to mind a less curmudgeonly New Order.
'Floor on the Floor' is a free invitation to cut a rug, with Cardamone sounding uncannily like Q & Not U's shrieking genius Christopher Richards - off-kilter riffs and drum patterns don't do much to shake off the comparison either. 'Riverbloat' sees Souls She Said shifting down a gear, locking into a driving yet ghostly groove that 'Daydream Nation'-era Sonic Youth would be proud of, complete with full-strength freak-out ending. 'Tastefaker' has Cardamone spitting Bixler-shaped bile over an incongruously up-beat guitar figure, whilst 'Cause, I Can't Find A Place In Hell' is a return to 'Youth-y mid-paced reverb-rock supplemented by a fuzzy 8-bit synth part.
'Rub The Sleep Out' is psychedelic preaching firmly rooted in punk-rock and 'Distralia' puts a more vulnerable slant on the late-80s/early-90s US indie-rock feel, although by this point Souls She Said do appear to be running out of both steam and ideas. Luckily the short, sharp shock of 'When Men Were Free' is at hand to snatch back your attention with Cardamone repeatedly pleading 'Please don't tell' like his life depends on it, over layers of frantically spidery guitar lines. Closer 'Oct 21' seems the most obviously improvised of the lot, with its freakish combination of acoustic guitars and the now-familiar, deep bass crunch.
On 'As Templar Nites' Souls She Said have come up with a truly great first effort - far preferable (to these ears at least) to anything their alter-egos The Icarus Line have come up with to date. The real test will undoubtedly come when they attempt to recreate their uniquely experimental studio chemistry for future forays, though for the time being this addictive yet brief glimpse into a hitherto unknown side of an established band remains one of the most invigorating listens of 2006 thus far.
Your Feedback
Login to post your comment