I’ve heard that the occasional rose is known to grow from concrete,
but from tourist-trap strip malls like Orlando? Of course, none of the
Solillaquists of Sound (S.O.S.) is originally from Florida, and that
begins to explain how they could compose an eclectic cornucopia as
sweet as No More Heroes — the follow-up to their 2006
debut, As If We Existed.
Like the Flobots and other effective socially responsible outfits,
SOS understand that messages are meaningless without melody. And beats
they have aplenty, thanks to their universally inspired in-house
producer, DiViNCi. Every track here has hella soul, but that’s the only
constant; whereas “Bulletproof” and “Heroes” are straight underground
fodder, the lighter “Popcorn” has “Hey Ya” crossover potential.No
More‘s runaway winner is “The Curse,” an Enya-esque aural-gasm so
aesthetically pristine, it takes a dozen spins to confirm your hunch
that it’s an instant classic. The same goes for the Chali 2na-touched
“Death of the Muse,” a J Dilla dedication whose download proceeds
benefit the late producer’s “Ma Dukes.”
The first SOS disc was underwhelming, but that’s not necessarily a
bad thing; given Swamburger’s enlightened pop sensibility and
Alexandrah’s varsity vocals, their improvement could and should evoke
some well-deserved Fugee comparisons. (Anti-)
