The London Souls: Here Come The Girls

Why don’t we do it in the road?

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When New York guitar/drums duo the London Souls arrived at London’s Abbey Road studios to make their second album, they summoned up the ghosts of all the bands who had recorded there in the 60s. Not just obvious names like The Beatles or Hollies, or even cult heroes like Badfinger, but also the cameo players like the Swinging Blue Jeans and Cliff Bennett & The Rebel Rousers.

Not that there’s anything notably revivalist about the London Souls. They were looking to catch the spirit of the era, the ‘look at us’ attitude, and Abbey Road’s clean production fits their tight sound. Their songs range from power pop to blues, with a couple of unexpected folky ballads.

You could spend hours ticking off the references (which obviously extend beyond Abbey Road), but what gives the album its identity is their own sense of style.

Their jangly, strident riffs and chord progressions are cleverly echoed by their melodies and hooks, and while some of guitarist Tash Neal’s solos recall Clapton circa early Cream, drummer Chris St Hilaire takes a more Zeppelin-ish approach. Here Comes The Girls is a timeless pleasure./o:p

Hugh Fielder

Hugh Fielder has been writing about music for 47 years. Actually 58 if you include the essay he wrote about the Rolling Stones in exchange for taking time off school to see them at the Ipswich Gaumont in 1964. He was news editor of Sounds magazine from 1975 to 1992 and editor of Tower Records Top magazine from 1992 to 2001. Since then he has been freelance. He has interviewed the great, the good and the not so good and written books about some of them. His favourite possession is a piece of columnar basalt he brought back from Iceland.