Roxy & The Underground Soul Song don’t beat around the bush with the title of their new album, Stand Up. The Halifax powerhouse hornchestra are straight up championing the cause of championing causes. They’ve thrown it back to the era of the Civil Rights Movement – providing the soundtrack to your next protest with the sound of classic R&B and some heavy nods to the greats.
If you took Lorraine Ellison, tossed her in with The Jackson Five and a smattering of Wilson Pickett, you’d have something like Roxy & The Underground Soul Sound.
Right off the bat, “Fuse Box” launches into the album with a knock-out instrumental that’ll have you on your feet. It’s a high-energy acknowledgement of the stellar line-up of The Underground Soul Sound, containing some of the best players in Atlantic Canada with the further blessing of some amazing studio musicians. It’s a retro, horn-driven smorgasbord that takes to its solos like we got lost in a classic episode of Doctor Who.
It’s “Show Me” that first treats us to the real star of the show. Roxy Mercier immediately take the spotlight with her smooth-as-a-cat’s-tongue vocals. It’s a call to action, with Roxy beating out the fact that love can be shown through demonstrable acts, with Will Hanson weaving through on his guitar. The track is an ear-warmer that eases the audience in on the album’s theme, but it’s “Helpless” that hammers it home with the blunt end of an anthem. Here we see the feet-meet-the-pavement anger of Roxy as she rails against injustice.
The album is hardly a one-size-fits-all solution for every cause and every march, but rather a indulgence in the complexities of human interaction. The call to stand up doesn’t mean an imperative to take to the streets with placards and bullhorns. Sometimes it’s doing something as simple as asking questions, requesting help, or celebrating the things you know work for you. On an album that focuses largely on empowerment, songs like “Nothing Without You,” rather than implying any sacrifice of independence, might be justified as an acknowledgement that, as humans, we may have something to gain by standing together.
“Left Behind the Good Times,” comes across like a melancholy Isaac Hayes boogie. “Been There (Done That)” veers into some dangerous disco territory, or at the very least edges up against some very intense late ’90s dance music, while “He’s Alright” closes out the album with a track that rings a familiar bell by echoing Stevie Wonder’s 1966 hit “Uptight (Everything’s Alright).”
The album, at its core, is very much about what the band believe in. Some of those beliefs are the kind that take people to the streets, and some are no less important but far more personal. Somehow, it still exudes fun, from a band that’s already known for their fantastic live performances. With big vocals, a big message, and a band that’s built like a tank but, thankfully, with the sensibility of something more modest, Stand Up may stand out as one of the better albums this year.
Tour Dates:
10.04.19 – Fredericton, NB @ The Capital Complex
10.05.19 – Moncton, NB @ Mud City Meltdown
10.17.19 – Halifax, NS @ The Seahorse Tavern