Soul Asylum
Slowly But Shirley – Blue Élan
Recorded in homage to Shirley Muldowney (the “First Lady Of Drag Racing”), Soul Asylum’s latest album races out the blocks like a chrome-wheeled, fuel-injected, flame red hot rod. Recorded live with producer Steve Jordan (Rolling Stones) at the helm, Slowly But Shirley displays the type of energy you’d expect from a band delivering their debut album, not their thirteenth. Full of thrills and spills, twists and turns, this is a record that makes pit stops along all points of the band’s oeuvre and evidences what a vast and varied toolkit they have. ‘The Only Thing Missing’ is the turbo charged opener and from here on Soul Asylum are crashing through the gears to get to the heartbreaking, Tom Petty-inspired ‘You Don’t Know Me’, then putting the pedal-to-the-metal to arrive at the high-octane ‘If You Want It Back’ before taking the corners at speed on the funky ‘Tryin’ Man’. It’s a hold-onto-your-hat affair that doesn’t let up until we reach the sudden stop that is grungy closer ‘High & Dry’. Album number thirteen proves itself lucky for Soul Asylum and finds them way ahead of the field.
Review by Peter Dennis.