I consider Soul-Junk's 1956 a watershed album of sorts, a delirious hip-hop masterpiece that wedded outright Christian ideology with a mad scientist's mixture of jungle, drum n' bass, pop, and a couple genres that may not even have names. Every listen to it was like a breath of fresh air, and was enough to make this skinny white boy to bob his head, pump his fist in the air, and rhyme along. Lyrically, Soul-Junk's Glen Galaxy (a.k.a. Galaxalag) kept up with his musical madness step for step, delivering a one-two punch of worship songs and cleverly biting critiques of the Church and her failings.
And now comes 1957, and I find myself a bit torn. Although 1957 continues Soul-Junk's love for unpredictable musical confectionery, it's far more ambitious and experimental. "Jelly Wings" is a surreal downtempo experiment, complete with stream of consciousness rhymes and lethargic female background vocals. The orchestral hits of "Ungst Func Slag Collision" keep pushing the song along like so many hard-hitting beats, while the horn samples of "Innerspacemen" announce the song in high style.
Taking in 1957 is like listening to all of the schizophrenia of 1956 condensed into only half the time. And therein lies the problem. Along the way to a purer form of musical strangeness (think Half-Handed Cloud or a less-focused Avalanches), it feels like Soul-Junk lost their most potent weapon... their wit. Well maybe they didn't. But it's hard to tell because the element that I loved the most about 1956 (Galaxalag's soothsaying) feels practically smothered by the layers of sounds, samples, and orchestrations. With time, it may be possible to peel back all of the layers, but on some songs, such as "Mercury" and its monotone robotic delivery, I wonder if it'll be worth it.
It's great to see Soul-Junk pushing the sonic boundaries of their music. I've always felt that Soul-Junk was one of Christendom's hidden treasures, telling it like it is over crazed, wacked out sounds. Soul-Junk put it best themselves on 1956's "3PO Soul": "Just got kicked off the lectern at a worship song summit/My hymns all plummet 'cause church ladies still won't hum it". And "1957"'s musical oddities certainly won't win them any more favor amongst those more set in their ways.
But I have to admit, after listening to 1957 a couple of times, I put in 1956 and there was a marked difference. Although tracks like "Ill-M-I" and "Pumpfake" might not be as out there, it was refreshing to see that Galaxalag's lyrics had lost none of their potency or cleverness. It's too bad that, while Soul-Junk was deepening and broadening their musical palette, some things were marginalized in the process.
Other coverage for this album
HM Magazine #98Reviewed by Chris RoseIn a world where every band is represented by a person in a large crowded party, Soul-Junk is the friend who is crazy, loud and obnoxious — but definitely a fresh breath of entertainment. 1957, like all previous years/albums, is a chaotic mess of scratching, laid back hip-hop, intriguing samples and anything else randomly floating around the members' minds. In a way, Soul-Junk is very similar to…Opus 2002Reviewed by Jason MoreheadI consider Soul-Junk's 1956 a watershed album of sorts, a delirious hip-hop masterpiece that wedded outright Christian ideology with a mad scientist's mixture of jungle, drum n' bass, pop, and a couple genres that may not even have names. Every listen to it was like a breath of fresh air, and was enough to make this skinny white boy to bob his head, pump his fist in the air, and rhyme along.…The Phantom Tollbooth 2002Reviewed by Ken MuellerSoul Junk is a band that has gone through quite a lot of changes and musical transformations over the years. In their earliest incarnation it was raw, punked out, jazz-laced, trippy tuneage. In more recent years the band has moved into a more hip-hoppy direction. With 1957, Glenn Galaxy and SloRo are the main collaborators, with a nice fusion of the old and new. The hip-hop is still up front with…The Phantom Tollbooth 2002Reviewed by Alex KlagesIn one of Canadian humorist Stephen Leacock's short stories, a man jumps on his horse and rides off in all directions. This is somewhat the impression which I got on my first listen to this, Soul Junk's latest full length effort. Where 1955 seemed to indicate a band with varying interests, 1956 was a fairly coherent rock-tinged, hip-hop laced effort, and was eminently listenable. 1957 seems to be…Similar sounding releases
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