Soulseller take the stage with demure confidence, almost a smugness that suggests they've got a trick or two up their sleeves. Old, haggard bogans of the future are sure to look back and reminisce fondly about their first time seeing Soulseller; the band that saved Dunedin music from falling into a hackneyed spiral of repetition of the inescapable "Dunedin Sound". Their music is a pure distillation of their three parts, an expression imbued with artful innocence and integrity that could only issue forth from three characters like Damo, Jared and Hayden. The beard-clad, long-haired youngsters show a refined sensibility for riff-worship and bluesy, unadulterated emotion well beyond their years, channelling the spirits of 70s fuzz and psychedelia, reified with youthful aggression and wide-eyed experimentation; the soundtrack to punching, driving trucks, beards, leather, denim and manhood.
Their music (delivered in the form of a ripper of an EP (self-titled) and a glorious fuckfest of a live show) showcases pure rock n' roll fury with wild abandon, tearing a new one in the seat of your pants, barely hinged together in the frenzy of it all; but all converging with a supernatural focus, with great discipline and honorable respect for the one, the unholy awesome bastard of a riff - the kind that induces involuntary head movements, ordering a hand to your crotch and a fist to the air, air-guitaring and spilling beer all over your friends.
Their newer songs logically develop and extend from their foundations in the time-tested Soulseller formula, but hint at a maturity and intensity beyond that of their EP, which in itself is one of New Zealand underground rock music's greatest releases and easily one of the best debut records of any kind in recent years.
"Serious fans of stoner rock, psychedelia and straight-up rock and roll would do well to keep an eye on Soulseller". - John Strange, 2010
Band Members:
Jared Smith (guitar, vocals)
Damian Smith (bass)
Hayden Rumble (drums)
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