I have been doing this job in some way, shape or form for well
\nover a decade now, and there is one thing I’ve learned about
\nup-and-coming bands after seeing enough of them: they’re usually
\nbetter live.<\/p>\n
You see, the live show is where they can display their
\ntechnique, style and exuberance, as well as to develop their
\nmaterial. By the time you get to their debut album, chances are
\nyou’ll be thinking that something was lost in the translation. The
\nalbum is not necessarily bad; it’s just…
\ndifferent<\/i>.<\/p>\n
In the case of Sacramento, California’s Soulmotor, I haven’t had
\nthe opportunity to see them perform live. (The fact that I’m in
\nChicago puts me at a disadvantage.) But after repeated listens to
\nSoulmotor’s self-titled debut album, I’m willing to bet that their
\nlive performances smoke. As for the album… well, it disappoints a
\nbit.<\/p>\n
Had I known going into the album that Soulmotor is the new group
\nof former Tesla bassist Brian Wheat, I probably would have had
\nextremely high expectations – and I probably would have been very
\ndisappointed. However, there are times like this where going into a
\nrecord with a “clean slate” is an advantage. (Stylistically, the
\ntwo bands are quite different, so you won’t see me try to compare
\nSoulmotor to Tesla.)<\/p>\n
Sounding similar to Days Of The New with more of an edge and an
\nelectric bend, Soulmotor – Wheat, vocalist Darin Wood, guitarist
\nTommy McClendon and drummer Mike Vanderhule – do show some signs of
\ngreat things to come. “Good Day To Die” is one such example; with a
\ncatchy chorus, solid rhythmic backbone and a well-written song,
\nthings seem to be looking very good for Soulmotor.<\/p>\n
The problem is that
\nSoulmotor<\/i> is an album that is hard to get excited over. It
\ntakes multiple listens to be able to truly appreciate some of the
\nsongs (“Guardian Angel,” “Go For A Ride”, “Omega Son”) – and many
\nlisteners might not have the patience or the time to put into an
\nalbum. By the time the album wraps up, it feels like you’ve
\nlistened to a slightly better than average first effort.<\/p>\n
But what strikes me about the songs on
\nSoulmotor<\/i> is that they don’t sound like they were meant for
\nthe confinement of the studio; rather, their power is waiting to be
\nuncaged on stage. Chances are once you see this band live, the
\nsongs on this disc will take on a whole new meaning and life of
\ntheir own. (Again, I’ve not had the pleasure of seeing them live,
\nso I can’t verify this for fact.)<\/p>\n
Soulmotor have an okay start to their career, but what will they
\nneed to push them into overdrive? Three words: touring, touring,
\ntouring. Test out new material on stage along with the 12 songs
\nthat make up this album. They don’t need to work on musical
\ntightness; that’s already there. But what they might want to work
\non is the subtle interplay between the instruments – the little
\nnuances the listener won’t naturally be paying attention for, yet
\nwill know when they happen.<\/p>\n
\nSoulmotor<\/i> is a disc that is best suited for the fan who has
\npartaken in their live show, and understands the dynamics of the
\nband well. Without that pleasure, it is a debut that is only a
\nshade above normal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":27497,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[7349],"rating":[5612],"class_list":["post-38871","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-soulmotor","rating-rating-b-minus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38871","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38871"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38871\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27497"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38871"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38871"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=38871"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=38871"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}