Needful Things
SOUL PURPOSE
(soiledporpoise.com )
When it comes to songwriting, Sarasota's Soul Purpose keeps it pretty simple. On Needful Things, the quartet's five-track debut EP, the band sings about keeping your mouth shut ("Big Mouth"), needing some loving ("I Need Your Love") and dancing with hot chicks ("Cool Ya Down"). The subjects might be breezy, but the band has a certain musical sophistication, hopping with ease from quasi-grunge and roots-rock to pop-ska and dub. The nine-minute-plus track that closes the disc, "Yahweh," is particularly impressive, a weighty reggae groove that fades into an extended hand-percussion coda. 3 stars
This article appears in Dec 12-18, 2007.