Souls She Said

Rub The Sleep Out (2003)

Adam White

Souls She Said's a sideproject featuring members of The Icarus Line and
Ink & Dagger. They play fuzzed out rock and roll school on bands like Television
and the Velvet Underground. While that description may lead one to classify them
as part of the garage rock revival, Souls She Said seems far more concerned with
combining jangling Jam grooves and Hüsker Dü styled distortion with
a bit of Sonic Youth than they are with writing anything with much pop appeal.
This is far, far more ethereal than anything the Strokes (or like-influenced bands)
are releasing.

That's not to say that the songs on this EP are hookless either, there's
a lot of really catchy, interesting moments on Rub The Sleep Out. It
took a few listens but there's a lot to like buried in teh mix here. Joe
Cardamone's singing is far more paced and subdued here, so anyone expecting
his shill yelp from some of the Icarus Line's harder tracks may come away
disappointed. Ink & Dagger guitarist Don Devore is absolutely superb and
his dynamic playing really stands out at a high point of the record.

Rub The Sleep Out's really a fine little side-project that has wider
appeal than just die-hard fans. I'm curious to see if this band records again,
because there's a ton of potential here to expand on. Fans of any of the aforementioned
bands will want to seek this out.