Soul Merchants

Soul Merchants - Beating Heart Soul Merchants 3 comments Band Members ♥ Malcom Black ♥ Michael Moore ♥ Jerry Cuba ♥ Robert Ferbrache ♥ Paul Ciciora (85)

The press release for Soul Merchants classifies their sound as "psychedelic goth rock". Seeing as how I'd never heard that sort of description before, I was curious to find out what they sounded like. After my initial listen, the closest bands out today that I could compare them to would be Interpol and She Wants Revenge.

To be fair, I could compare them to the likes of Joy Division in tone. Soul Merchants were only around from 1985-1987, but they made 100+ recordings and one LP. Based out of Denver, Soul Merchants gained a small and devoted fan-base, and they played their last show at the inaugural SXSW This dual disc collection titled 1985-1987 has over 160 minutes of music spread over two disks. These are only just their cassette releases, that have been remixed and remastered by former Merchant Bob Ferbrache.

The CD I was sent only had 15 songs out of the 40, but it was more than enough for me to pick out a favorites. "Beating Heart" was a favorite because of the awesome drum intro, and the guitar riffs in the background remind me of a 60's psychedelic acid trip, while "Love" reminds me of T-Rex on a downer. "Johanna" was a favorite with everyone who listened to it, and that got the most comparisons to Joy Division. I myself just liked the way that just when I thought it was repetitive, there was some sort of musical surprise. In any case, I'd really like to hear their LP Gates of Heaven. There's talk about that being reissued.

Soul Merchants - Love

Soul Merchants

You can stream more Soul Merchants via their Myspace MySpace or visit the Smooch Records webby for more info. You can also purchase 1985-1987 via the iTunes Music Store

 02/18/2008 15:27:53  ceji my♥posts Smooch Records.com MySpace