Raw. Emotive. Visceral. These descriptions may be overused, but there are none better to describe the intersection of soul and energy generated by New York City’s own, sOUSALVES. Following two sold out EPs, and a critically reviewed debut album, eMerGin.See–the Band’s sophomore full-length–delivers a dense soundscape that mines the spectrums of folk, funk, and punk, without lingering in any one genre long enough to be labeled as anything but pure Rock & Roll. Earnest in the very best sense of the word, sOUSALVES never wallows in the self-referential irony that is the downfall of much of today’s music.
With songwriting that is deft and intricate and bursts forth with honest emotion, band creator and frontman, Paul Alves, steers sOUSALVES into rare depths of Intellectual Rock that, nonetheless, rocks so hard you don’t mind the message. As technically astute as it is emotionally ragged, the sometimes frenetic, sometimes languid, and, even, sometimes calypso guitar of Alves is both reined-in and set completely free by a frenetic drumbeat that is not only keeping time, but occasionally bending it.
eMerGin.See was recorded live in New York City, which, paradoxically, will be this album’s curse and its blessing: its curse, because musical talent of this degree deserves the sterile fields of a soundproofed recording vault; and its blessing because this is music that is meant to be heard live–as much with the nerves in your ear as with the dance in your feet and the wiggle in your ass. Considering the virtuosity of eMerGin.See, the coming year is destined to be the season of sOUSALVES–make it your mission to experience them for yourself.
All superlatives aside, sOUSALVES will be bringing its eclectic mix of live SwampDiscoFunkBoogie to a venue near you. Do not miss this opportunity.
