Solid Sounds of the Eight Piece Brotherhood

Album Review

00-Soul wallows in big, fat, retro grooves informed by funk, jazz-rock and Afro-Cuban sounds; all of it is combined into a simmering, booty-shaking stew and spiced up with strange samples and loops to create a very hip fusion of the old and the new that has earned the band a solid reputation as a live act in its native Long Beach, California. And even on record, 00-Soul is tons of hot, sweaty fun; from the organ-and-horn-powered old-school soul strut of "Cosmic Voodoo" that opens the program to "Super Agent Steve," which closes the album with a blast of high-octane funk-rock, there's really never a dull moment. "Ramon" and "Bossa Alma" both work an explicitly Latin groove, while "Intoxica" sticks to a horn-heavy funk and "Jungle King" weaves almost creepy vocal samples around a slow, steamy drum riff and off-beat horn line. Strongly recommended, especially for parties.