THE SOULSHAKE EXPRESS (Heavy Music) CD

Is Örebro Sweden's Detroit? I'm not sure how many bands come from this town, but it's more than a dozen, so what's going on there? Among the newcomers we have THE SOULSHAKE EXPRESS, a band that was formed in the late summer of 2003. The band's first sign of life was an EP and now here's their first full-length, that was released in 2008 by Bad Reputation. Contrary to a couple of other groups from Örebro, THE SOULSHAKE EXPRESS have really a lot in common with some of the legendary bands, that hail from Detroit in the 60's and 70's. And even if they have more blues than soul in their sound, some of the grooves have a booster dose of the typical Motown-sound.

We also should keep in mind that Bob Seger entitled one of his records 'Heavy Music'. For this reason the musical direction from THE SOULSHAKE EXPRESS is obvious and as if they want to make their position clear that they haven't invented something new, they quote Jeff Beck in the booklet. Admittedly this five Swedish guys shouldn't be so humble, because what they deliver with their first album is simply very promising. Not only that THE SOULSHAKE EXPRESS knows how to write catchy songs, but they are also good musicians and they have a singer with a charismatic, soulful voice.

The sound of an organ is an extra cool bonus, and even if not all eleven tracks are outstanding at least half of them have burned themselves in my long-term memory like 'Devil's Twist', 'Woman Like You' or 'Perfect Combination' just to mention a few. I was really surprised by the thick and heavy tone of 'Heavy Music', because this isn't very typical for that kind of music and I can imagine that THE SOULSHAKE EXPRESS destroy every stage. Everyone who's searching for an infectious, sexy mixture out of Delat Blues, 60's Garage Rock, 70's Hardrock and Motown/Stax-Soul should buy a copy of 'Heavy Music'. You won't regret it!
(KK)
www.soulshake.se
www.badreputation.fr