Souls She Said - As Templar Nites

by Mark Rowland

published: 3 / 10 / 2006

Label: Poptones
Format: CD

intro

Impressive Stooges and US underground-inspired indie rock on debut album from Souls She Said, the side project of Icarus Line singer Joe Cardamone and bassist Don Devore

Souls She Said is the side project of Icarus Line singer Joe Cardamone and bassist Don Devore, and one that is obviously related to their main band and yet distinctively different at the same time. The songs on ‘As Templar Nites’ are certainly more danceable than those you would find on an Icarus Line album, but are obviously still influenced by Iggy Pop and the Stooges, as well as US underground indie rock. Souls She Said are also a much brighter sounding band than the Icarus Line, with more prominent melodies and even some reasonably sweet chord progressions. Opener ‘Sunken City’ is like a warped, pan-dimensional version of U2, which is followed by a cross between Janes Addiction and the kind of NY disco punk peddled by DFA and their ilk. ‘Riverbloat’ is an upbeat indie number that brings to mind the Velvets, the Jesus and Mary Chain and Sonic Youth’s less dissonant moments. ‘Rub The Sleep Out’ is the closest in sound to the Icarus Line on the record, a driving Stooges-esque number over which Cardamone hollers rather than sings. ‘Cause, I can’t Find a Place in Hell’ is another electrified Velvets-influenced tune, on which guitars and casiotones clatter and stumble over each other. ‘Distralia’ is another Lou Reed/Velvet Underground influenced tune, with an intro riff that would be at home on Television’s ‘Marquee Moon’, and some My Bloody Valentine style swirly guitar work at the end of the song.

Track Listing:-

1 Sunken City
2 Floor On The Floor (Original Mix)
3 Riverbloat (Original Mix)
4 Tastefaker (Original Mix)
5 Cause, I Can't Find A Place In Hell (Original Mix)
6 Rub The Sleep Out (Original Mix)
7 Distralia (Original Mix)
8 When Men Were Free (Original Mix)
9 21-Oct (Original Mix)