Many, many, many bands comfort themselves with ‘we are too good for our own good’ to account for their lack of success. Too obtuse for the mainstream, yet too mainstream for purists, it’s a purgatory for bands unable to transcend the limits they impose on themselves.

But the exceptional Soulvasq from Gary, IN, doesn’t have to worry being stunted by its superlative abilities. The band’s almost-too-good-for-their-own-good 7-song disc Out Past Ours, self-produced on their own label hOle in the plOt prOduCtiOns, has plenty for everyone to feast on. Anyone who can’t be bothered to try doesn’t deserve such a fine local treat.

The brainchild of roommates Mark Vasquez (bass, guitars, vocals) and Dave Solar (vocals) makes music for musicians, served with heaping scoops of humor, asperity, and infectious funk. Like a smart and articulate drunk, Soulvasq isn’t out to impress anyone with their complexities – they just don’t know any better.
The ontology of the band is nearly impossible to understand. Composers Solar and Vasquez share a voluminous resume of former bands, as well as current side projects (like the Gwen Mitchell Experiment), and are the only players to appear on all seven tracks. Present on most of the disc are the other two official band members, drummer Phil Goodrich and guitarist Chris Gardner, who giddily fill in the holes that Solar and Vasquez leave open. It’s hard to say where their contribution stops and the legion of guest musicians begins, but these chefs all make a fine soup.

The band somehow avoids using hooks without slipping into ponderous meandering. Track 2 ‘Call It Something Else…’ is ostensibly simple, but the song’s structure never repeats (verse, bridge, chorus? Forget it!), and the R&B background vocals and sweet acoustic guitar keeps it likeable. Interesting song if you want to pay attention, but still enjoyable if all you want is a dainty something-or-other.

The band’s only sin may be their sense of humor. Take ‘Two Dollar Bill’, a grievance about the use of outdated currency – how does one market this theme to an audience? Then there’s ‘Sloppy Fisted Coffee Guzzle’ which gets the room bouncing, but ends up scaring the women and children (and me too). These songs are comedic for reasons that can’t quite be explained, but the band avoids the silliness that made Phish inaccessible to outsiders, and, kind of like The Big Lebowski, is funny just because it’s funny.

Not just humorous for its own sake, part of Soulvasq’s wit is that they are that good. They may be fey, but not in contrition for other areas that may be lacking – they are gifted at writing and performing songs that can be prescribed for catharsis or entertainment. Fun is the goal here, but they will challenge you, if you’re so inclined.
‘El Emenohpee’ concludes the disc with a twisted grin. So the horns are synth, so the song’s hook is gratuitous repetition of one word … so what? The chorus (I guess you could call it that) of, “Many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many…. Trrrreeeeeeessssss [birrrrrrds] [worrrrrrrrrrld]!” is bound to crack a smile, and make itself at home in your head. You can try it on your own and see if it has a similar effect, but I recommend letting Solar do it for you.

I’d like to sit in on the writing process. Vasquez takes an unusual path by constructing all songs from the bass (which he uses adroitly), and Solar, that increasingly rare breed of vocalist-only, has no other instrument than his vocal chords. By necessity, they approach song structure with purity, and the result is a clever and uninhibited approach to the process. Soulvasq may not resemble any one other sound out there, but there is something familiar to them, and for all the rules they leave broken and bleeding, there is an audience out there for them to find. If only they’d play live more often!

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