Experiment on a Flat Plane

Album Review

Not surprisingly, there are a few changes in the six-year interim between Soulhat's last album and this one. Most obviously, co-founder, singer/songwriter Bill Cassis has departed, replaced by Mac McNabb who doesn't contribute tunes or vocals. That leaves the songwriting onus almost entirely on Kevin McKinney, who although capable, tends to arrange all the tracks with a similar, slightly funky, midtempo bounce, and he's now the only singer. The band's predominantly acoustic style incorporates touches of blues, country, rock, funk, pop, folk, and even reggae in a congenial, bubbly, often contagious mix. When the lyrics jump out as they do on the hot-dog, double-time, bluegrass-propelled, basketball double entendre "WNBA" ("she's got a lovely little lay-up"), the energy and unbridled enthusiasm that has kept the Texas band a big club draw during the '90s is evident. Legendary rock/funk drummer Frosty Smith sits in on drums.