Soulside: "A Brief Moment in the Sun". Give this record a firm hug, and then let it breathe all over you
It's like old school Ben Harper with a little more diesel and a little more distortion. What? It also pulls from the naturally smooth rock energy and attitude of the earliest Brad recordings. Ok, you keep saying it, so what is IT? Come on now, IT is in the title. You should pay attention, but I'll spell it out again ... Soulside's latest record "A Brief Moment in the Sun". I can't decide if it's specifically full-on groovy tasty, full of all the required vitamins and minerals for a balanced diet ... or from a bird's eye view, just quite awesome. I am balancing on a difficult tightrope here. One of the characteristics people should know about the artistical gone critical section of my personality is that I don't judge a record until I absorb it through many listens over the perfect period of time. Perfect period equaling my own irrational and inconsistent requirements at that juncture in life ... you will never and won't want to decrypt. The prior applies unless there is an extremely unharmonious foul odor emanating from all that specific singing, playing instruments and whatnot upon initial engagement. Then you usually have to pull the "chute" and hit the ground trotting in a different direction. See how wonderfully indiscriminate the thought process was just there? Witness my brain battling itself.
To appreciate this record even more than its stand-alone cool presence, is to know the band's history. At least I think so. Their initial existence goes back to the period of 1985-1989 in Washington DC during the emergence of Dischord Records' punk rock scene. Don't let me confuse you, I didn't know a damn about their presence on Earth during my 80s days in Phila and Pittsburgh, while shedding some heavy metal coating and wrapping it in some kind of alterna-world. My acknowledgement of Soulside's artistic contribution didn't occur until 1994, years after the majority of those characters had already firmly established a whole new force of nature called Girls Against Boys (GVSB). The appreciation for GVSB was a slow and fantastic burn that sticks for a lifetime. With that said, recognize that Soulside was 100% DC blasting hardcore in the mid 80s who slickly slid their tuneage into the absolute beginnings of what would be categorized as emo. This is the unabashedly pure emo; I must state for the record. Think Rites of Spring, Fugazi and whatever DC band I left out of the mix that released one EP and disappeared soon after, that will leave me open to criticism. Some could have also temporarily bookmarked Soulside into the appropriate noise rock search, but I digress. With the additional writing depth, they found a minor swinging shimmy. That musical mind expansion from Soulside obviously led to the exceptionally unflappable sound that did become Girls Against Boys. Without the GVSB nourishment, I may have never performed the necessary DC shallow dive to arrive at Soulside ... even though I was then living in Wash. DC and frequenting all the proper establishments through much of the 90s.
When I heard that Soulside had gotten back together to do some touring, that was one thing. When they decided to make a new record, after 33 years, I was invested and confident in the eventual outcome. With "A Brief Moment in the Sun", there are ZERO haphazard listening conditions inside the ones and zeros. It has a completely congealed personality. It is nothing like anything they ever released. The writing is sexy like a mofo, and the production perfectly complements each individual song. Guys!!! ... play your your lady some of this new Soulside and watch them react like "whaaaaat??? ... oh yeah! uhhhh! oooomf! and "shooga shooga!" I never thought I would make the bold declaration that most of any Soulside record could back its ass up to my Soul Coughing library.
Hey Soulside, you took a chance with "A Brief Moment in the Sun", and it proves that not only do you all have a pair, but it completely delivered. That is how you stick the landing!
