Sophomore EP from UK mash-up soul quintet
This UK quintet’s second domestic release (following up their debut album Great Vengeance and Furious Fire) is a five-song EP that continues their mashup of 1970s blaxpolitation soul, bone rumbling bass and lo-fi samples that add the warmth of well-worn vinyl grooves. This time out they add Zeppelin-weight rock, grungy blues guitars and most importantly of all, more cowbell. The latter is courtesy of the title track’s use of the opening of the Stones’ “Honky Tonk Women†and an earworm percussion riff on the disc-closing alternate version. Kelvin Swaby’s falsetto combines the passion of Curtis Mayfield, the seduction of Prince and the Johnny Mathis-like stylings of Roland Gift. With the vocals providing the top-line hooks, the instrumental mélanges are the underlying motor. The opener lays a lyric of a half-faded love with acoustic rhythm guitars, deep bass, sustained cymbal strokes and a propulsive tambourine. The monotone bass and drums of “Easier†are more standard issue, as is the metal-jam guitar and pounding percussion of “You Don’t Know,†yet in both cases the vocal contrast generates drama and interest. More inventive is the acoustic treatment of “Coleen,†which hangs between soul and blues with drums, bass and dripping guitars beneath the call-and-response vocals. Those purchasing the full EP from iTunes get the bonus track “Doing Heavy Time,†which covers Johnny Cash’s Sun-era “Doin’ My Time†with a combination of original and sampled vocals, dance-ready bass and a rockpile backbeat; never before has the connection between Johnny Cash and Curtis Mayfield been so clearly drawn. This is a nice taste of The Heavy, issued on the eve of several East Coast concert dates; for the full story, check out their debut. [©2008 hyperbolium dot com] 