No More Trouble (Sons of Soil, 2004)

 Sons of Soil is an earthy (pun intended) group emerging from the reggae hotbed of Memphis, Tennessee...yes, Tennessee.  While Memphis is more known for blues and country music, SOS primarily focus on roots reggae, a sound in which they should great promise on No More Trouble, their debut release.  Still, they are from Tennessee, and thus there are indeed liberal doses of blues, rock, and country included in the mix (granted, the latter is primarily on one track, "Memphis, Tennessee").  More unexpected is the high incidence of African drumming in the songs -- in fact, the first and last tracks are traditional instrumental rhythms.  So, as you can see, Sons of Soil have a broad, encompassing sound that overall holds together on this EP, but it remains to be seen if they can manage it over the course of a full-length album.  I would be curious to see, for instance, if the acoustic country blues of "Memphis, Tennessee" is as much of an anomaly as it seems to be on No More Trouble, or if this abrupt stylistic shift is a regular occurrence (Personally, I hope not; while it's not a bad song, it's not reggae, and it doesn't blend with the other reggae tracks.  Blues and reggae can mix, but it's smoother to do it within the same song, not alternating reggae and blues on different tracks.).  It's hard to judge a group from an EP, but Sons of Soil are intriguing enough to want to hear more.  No More Trouble is a bit frustrating because, although there are 6 tracks here, only half of them really showcase the band as a viable reggae act, since "Introduction" and "Salam" are merely traditional African drum pieces and, well, I already discussed "Memphis, Tennessee."  As for the other three tunes, they are all quite solid with spirited music and thoughtful, relevant lyrics that are particularly concerned with society in the wake of September 11th : "Judgment cries with a fire, conscience speaks with a whisper" is one of the more evocative lines.  While the songwriting and musicianship are high-grade, the only real problem I see with SOS are the vocals of lead singer Ras-I.  Lord knows you don't have to be a great vocalist to be a reggae singer, but if you're not a great singer, you need some sort of edge (a la Lee "Scratch" Perry or Sizzla) that makes the listener take notice.  Ras-I's vocals, as heard on this set, unfortunately lack any sort of edge.  They are flat musically, emotionally, and stylistically, a deadly combination that can prove to be very distracting to the audience.  When I first listened to these songs, they sounded like when a singer at a concert gives the microphone to a fan in the audience so that they can sing the chorus -- except that in this case, the fan is the singer.  Of course, though, this is not something that can't be corrected; that's what vocal coaches are for.  Or, if worse comes to worse, someone else can take over lead vocals, for SOS's message is too insightful to be drowned out by a lackluster delivery. Hear for yourself at cdbaby.com.