Is one album a year from Third Day not enough for you? Yearning for some more Southern-style rock from a Christian perspective? Then look no further than Soulsoak, a new band that sounds remarkably similar to the popular band from Georgia, with a bit of Shaded Red and Satellite Soul thrown in. In fact, Tim Suttle of Satellite Soul produced this six-song EP—no doubt he met the guys of Soulsoak in their shared hometown of Kansas City. These guys can rock almost as well as Third Day, and Dave Lingenfelter's vocals are reminiscent of John Popper (Blues Traveller) or Jamie Roberts (Shaded Red). Is it original sounding? Not at all, but it's very listenable.
Lyrically Soulsoak isn't fabulous, but they fit in nicely with your average Christian artist. Their song "Close to You," which is about the need to spend time with God during the whole week and not just on Sunday, has received some radio play. I also liked the passionate plea of "That Night," a song that reminds us that the Christian life is not all roses and that God doesn't always give us a quick solution to our trials. The remaining songs are a little more routine lyrically—not bad or cliched, just less profound. The driving rock of "Crown" is another one of those "I surrender my life to You" songs, and "Walls" is about the obstacles that separate us from God. God's unconditional, unfailing love for us, despite our sinful nature, is the subject of "Good Side," and "Park Bench" ponders the question of why God loves us so much.
Hopefully Soulsoak will record a full-length project sometime soon, but this EP is still worth checking out in the meantime. It may not be readily available at all stores (yet), so you may have to order through their Web site (www.soulsoak.com). A worthy addition to the Christian roots rock genre dominated by Third Day.