Back in November I read an article in the Village Voice about a band I had never heard of. I was intrigued by the word used to describe their sound: asoulgazing. It essentially means a mix of soul music, shoegaze and indie rock with hip-hop style looping and drum programming. Weve all had that moment when youre immediately, irrationally sold on a product before seeing it or hearing it. This became my moment, but of course I had to check out some songs to make sure that my preconceptions were true.
Lets just say you wouldnt be reading this if I was disappointed in any way.
"Look inside your soul! Does it make a difference in your life?!" screams lead vocalist
Daniel Chavis of the
Apollo Heights on the jittery and urgent "Shallow By Shallow". The aforementioned quote embodies the sound of the Heights in every way, shape and form. Lead by
Danny Chavis (twin brother of Daniel),
Honeychild Coleman and
Monk Washington on guitars,
Micah Gaugh on keyboards, and
Hayato Nakao handling bass on programming duties,
White Music For Black People (Manimal Vinyl) should be required listening for those who feel that the souls gone from rock music.
KEEP READING -
Stephon Johnson* * * * * * * * * * * *
Apollo Heights on MySpace
