Keeping it Simple
With Soul Purpose
BY COOPER
LEVEY-BAKER
Published 12.12.07
Needful Things
SOUL PURPOSE
soiledporpoise.com
When it comes to songwriting, Sarasota's Soul Purpose keeps it pretty simple.
On Needful Things, the quartet's five-track debut EP, the band sings
about keeping your mouth shut ("Big Mouth"), needing some loving ("I Need Your
Love") and dancing with hot chicks ("Cool Ya Down"). The subjects might be
breezy, but the band has a certain musical sophistication, hopping with ease
from quasi-grunge and roots-rock to pop-ska and dub. The nine-minute-plus track
that closes the disc, "Yahweh," is particularly impressive, a weighty reggae
groove that fades into an extended hand-percussion coda. 3 stars