Damn, She's A Good Driver

SOUL MANIFEST – “White Season” CD ’10 (Night Tripper, Fra) – Here’s an old joke. Guy’s hitchhiking and this devilishly hairy woman picks him up. I mean, just from what’s visible, she’s got the Sequoia National Forest growing on her, right? But hey, it’s a ride. Anyway, pretty soon they crest a hill and all the sudden there it comes…an 18-wheeler head-on at ‘em, full speed. There’s a car in the next lane over to the right and a guard rail to the left. Faced with his impending demise, he utters the first immortal words that come to his mind. “If you can get us out of this, I’ll eat every hair on your body!” With that she slams the wheel to the left, mounts the guard rail in best Starsky and Hutch fashion and sparks flying, rides the metal track on 2 wheels past the semi with an inch to spare. ‘Bout an hour later, the poor soul’s picked up on the roadside, shaking his head and spitting every time he mutters, “Damn, she’s a good driver.”

Which brings us to SOUL MANIFEST. Damn, this is a good album! Sometimes you just don’t see it coming. Review material comes in waves and there buried in the pile was a small white unassuming envelope from which would tumble this disc. Fresh out of France, these cats take the tried and true genre of ‘70’s-style hard rock and put a twist on it original enough that it becomes a keeper. Whether it’s the Purple-ish groove of “Dead Man,” the “Run Of The Mill”-like strumming of “Do We Have The Same View” or the massive Buffalo-style stomp of “White Season (Part I),” variety and flow are always front & center. It doesn’t stop there either. Move deeper into the 8-song disc and you’re met face-to-face with the blistering “All But My Dreams…,” sporting a hook Mick Box would die for. It all wraps up with a 10-minute heavy psych epic called “The Light” that holds it’s own with any of the big boys you want to name. Ratcheting up my reaction to this sweet 39 minutes are the cherries on top: the unexpected keyboard flourishes in “Dead Man,” the quirky songwriting (“White Season (Part II)” for example) and the deep, organic production. Damn, this is a good album! Rock & Roll Soul Ray Dorsey

http://www.reverbnation.com/soulmanifest/