Soul Coughing
Ruby Vroom

THE REVIEW

New York is one of the most fascinating cities I have ever seen. Its soul coughs. Among the skyscrapers of Manhattan, the shops of Chinatown, or the fire escapes of the Bronx: wherever you are, its multifaceted personality grabs you and shakes you. In New York, you can never quite figure out which is the most attractive soul.

New York also has among its souls some slightly eccentric and bohemian people, like the poet Mike Doughty, who leads (led, alas) a truly phenomenal band, a melting pot of avant-garde ideas.

More refined than Cake, more captivating than Morphine, more forward-thinking than Beck: genuine references are hard to find. Mike Doughty defined his group’s music with three words: “deep slacker jazz.” I never quite understood what he meant, but it’s clear that in their sophisticated sound, there’s plenty of jazz and a good dose of goofiness too. They debuted in 1994 with this memorable Ruby Vroom (Slash), where Doughty’s intellectual free-style, superbly supported by a brilliant rhythm section (Sebastian Steinberg on double bass and the extraordinary Yuval Gabay on drums), is expressed with the explosive originality unique to their early days. Listen to believe, Bus To Beelzebub, Moon Sammy, Screenwriter’s Blues, True Dreams Of Wichita.

Soul Coughing is one of the most fascinating bands I have ever listened to. Their soul coughs. Among the jazzy drumming, the electronic samples, the syncopated guitar riffs: wherever I am, its multifaceted personality grabs me and shakes me. Of Soul Coughing, I can never quite figure out which is the most attractive soul.

The rock of the guitar, the funk of the samples, the jazz of the drums, the rap of the vocals… As with New York, probably, the charm is in the mix.