Quirky, yet artistic. Unusual, yet musically sounding. Insane, yet genius. All of this describes Soul Coughing's sophomore effort, Irresistible Bliss. This New York quartet is back with their blend of groove driven drums and upright bass, funky guitar, distinctive vocals, and unusual samples. They strive to achieve "the perfect combination of the Weird Noise, the Phat Beat and the Blissful Pop Moment." Let me tell you folks, if they haven't achieved it, no one has.
Soul Coughing is virtually the most rhythmically intense band I've ever heard. Perhaps intense is a poor choice of word. While their sense of rhythm is uncanny and unrelenting, the feel of the music is incredibly loose and enticing. I honestly cannot think of any band that I could fairly compare to Soul Coughing. It is this aspect of the band that has carried most strongly from Ruby Vroom into Bliss.
The style of the music has remained the same, however, it seems that certain details in the construction and production of each song have changed. Vroom seemed much more raw. While the production was perfect for the sound, some je ne sais quoi has been "cleaned" up. I can't particularly place my finger (though it may simply be the usage of different producers, duh) on what facet of the production has been altered, but it isn't necessarily for the better or worse.
The raw production of Vroom helped the contour of the album. Each of the songs seemed to flow into each other with no enormous jumps in dynamics. The cleaner production of Bliss allows the differences both within and outside of the 12 cuts to be more in-your-face.
I definitely hear a much harder edge to Soul Coughing. In addition, I think there is a greater willingness to venture into the more obscure areas of their music. The current single "Soundtrack to Mary" is a happy medium on the aggressiveness scale. Album opener "Super Bon Bon" goes from one end of the spectrum to another; shake-your-head groove to have-a-seizure rock.
Bizarre samples found on the album include elephant noises, slowed down voices, clarinet ensembles (???), string sections, and truly unidentifiable sounds. And while many of these samples don't exactly "make sense" or even stay in exact tune with the rest of the band, they work. It is absolutely fascinating to me what kind of thought processes produce such a unique end product.
I've but one rave left (that I'll share with you) about Soul Coughing. Go check out Music from and Inspired by the X-Files: Songs in the Key of X. "Unmarked Helicopters" is an eerie song, somewhat atypical of the "standard" (as they don't really have a standard) Soul Coughing sound, with a great groove. Go check it out. NOW!
