KEY POINTS:
Herald rating: * * * *
This is multi-instrumentalist Tommy Guerrero's fourth album and he plays a devilishly funky bass, an even meaner guitar, and the beats pulse and bop along brazenly.
From the first chinks and tinkles of opener Hello Again you will want to throw on your best Hawaiian shirt and go for a long stroll on the beach.
Over the years he's collaborated with everyone from avant-garde hip-hop producer Prefuse 73 to twee surfer-turned-rocker Jack Johnson. Guerrero is better known as a skateboarder than as a musician, but musically has far more attitude than Johnson. Maybe that's because he played in punk bands and counts the Clash and Public Enemy as influences.
While most of From the Soil to the Soul is made up of laidback, slinky grooves, there's also a foreboding feel to the eerie Mission Flats, the wah-wah of Badder Than Bullets, and the unnerving chaos of Molotov Telegram. It's a good thing because it could verge on being too feelgood without them. Rather than it being a summer album, think of it as beach music or the perfect soundtrack for a sunny back yard.
Label: Quannum
Verdict: Psychedelic summer album without the trippy tangents
