Posted on 10/26/2009
To say that the music of Soul-Junk has gone everywhere and back is an understatement. With his roots going back to the days of Trumans Water, San Diego's Glen Galaxy has reached deep into the trenches of crunchy alterna-rock and even dabbled in some hip-hop that was nothing short of incredible. He continues his numbered titles with 1960, an album that had taken two years to complete, and what has been called "15 years of accumulation," which is a good thing.

Some of those cherished Trumans Water intensity is still present, especially in tracks like "[Daleth] Kitchen Quality," "[Nun] Your Testimonies," and “[Shin] Big Bear Cassiopeia," but what you'll also hear are a collection of potentially anthemic songs, complete with layers of droning guitars, feedbacks, and crashing drums that make the listener feel as if they're in there in the studio. Things switch over into outsider folk with "[He] Rudolph," think of Jandek joining up with Dave Pirner of Soul Asylum and J. Mascis of Dinosaur Jr., only for things to switch over again into a pop/punk motif in "[Waw] Screaming Lobster." If it sounds a bit complex or confusing, it's not. Think of a vast world of people with different foods and different cooks ready to go into the kitchen. Now take that philosophy and apply it to a band, but in this case it's one man (Galaxy) entering a library of cook books and just coming up with some incredible stews or gumbos.

As is the case with much of Soul-Junk's output, 1960 is a celebration of love, life, and spirituality, heavily soaked in Galaxy's Christian beliefs. A few of the tracks sound like meditation sessions with its drones and repetitive chord structures, while others sound like a very happy festival, complete with string sections and freak out moments. Christian grunge? Punk gospel>? It's too easy to come up with hundreds of tags to describe it, but I will say it doesn't sound like a Christian album. It's like an indie rock version of Grits or Braille, where the spiritual themes are always present but is never overwhelming. Challenging times demand challenging music, and Soul-Junk aren't afraid to demonstrate their capabilities as a challenging band in these uncertain times.

-John Book