Live

It doesn't get much more Midwest garage rock than the Soledad Brothers' Live, which features a June 2000 performance of the Detroit/Toledo group at the Motor City's late, lamented Gold Dollar. The mix of integrity and intensity displayed on their albums Soledad Brothers and Steal Your Soul and Dare Your Spirit to Move gets ratcheted up a few notches, as does the length of the songs themselves -- Live covers seven songs in just over half an hour. This elongated approach doesn't always connect, but when it does, it really does: "Goin' Back to Memphis" has a nicely percolating sense of tension and release, as does the even more explosive "Up Jumped the Devil." However, early tracks such as "Stand Up" and "Break Em on Down" fall relatively flat, though that's probably due to the band getting ready to hit their stride more than anything else. Much has been made of the Soledad Brothers' similarity to/fetish for the Stones, and Live brings out that side of the band even more than their studio albums. "Johnny's Death Letter" is positively "Midnight Rambler"-esque, and "Teenage Heart Attack" boasts swaggering drum and guitar lines that bear an uncanny resemblance to "Brown Sugar" without actually ripping that song off. By the time the last song, "Gospel According to John," winds down, it feels like leaving a party too early -- the band has clearly hit its groove and could easily play for another hour. Though it's not the best introduction to the Soledad Brothers' music, Live definitely makes a compelling argument to see the band play whenever possible. ~ Heather Phares|