Soul Revolution are ‘The Lion Of Bordeaux’ and Don Argentino (no, really) – two heads brought together by the lure of the smoky basement clubs of the capital of Aquitaine who discovered a shared love of the U.S. West Coast hip-hop underground. ‘Le Lion de Bordeaux,’ in particular, may sound familiar to UK funk heads, probably because he’s the lead singer in a band with one of the best names (and some of the best sounds) in contemporary funk – The Shaolin Temple Defenders. One More Time recalls the more soulful side of the Quannum crew from back in the day and has something of a good early track by Lyrics Born about it. This respectable debut rocks a heavy butter-slick bassline, squelchy guitar and a handy sample from New Orleans funkers Salt plus a part-sing, part-rap vocal from both members of the band. Obviously no self-respecting Frenchman could sing entirely in Anglais so part of it’s in French for that Saian Supa Crew/ early Solar ‘vibe francaise’. West side! Er – I mean ‘vive l’ouest!’ Keep your eyes peeled for an album later in the year…
(Out now on SoulBeats Records)