The album title pretty much describes exactly what’s inside the moody stylish artwork. the duo have been slogging their wears around the globe toilet circuit for years honing their craft to this point and have delivered the record they’ve been promising from day one. ‘The Soul Of… is a stunning wall of sound with its Cuban heel boots rooted in the good and the great of decades of Rock n Roll and have dragged it by the beehive into the 21st Century kicking and swaggering. From the subtle fuzz of the opener, ‘You Woo Me’ they nailed it from the sound to the melody to the delivery this is a peacock of an opener and played loudly it’s exhilarating stuff. From the floor tom thump to the BVs and that subtle homage to Spector Wall Of Sound it’s a high bar they’re setting.

The pop wheeze of ‘Clifornia’ and the addition of La La Brooks should have seen this as the feel-good hit of the summer. It’s sunshine on wax folks as the fuzz accompanied by those happy-go-lucky keys is a recipe of pure gold and then you have the melody rolling round the Los Angeles seafront. The album is a little less dirty Garage and more of the melody and emphasis on the song rather than the style but saying that it’s hard to see past the nostalgia of a bygone era but when it’s done this well why not go retro from the orchestrations to the handclaps and the well-placed fuzz they’ve absolutely nailed it. from Shangri Las’s to the Ronettes to more modern garage rock the White Stripes never sounded this classy ‘Here I Come’ sounds like it’s had a back alley dust up and the pairs knuckle duster came in handy. Love the shuffle on that snare.

they can seamlessly glide from the uptempo dance floor fillers to the dramatic balladeering-like ‘Don’t Wan’t you Back’ shows that Flavia and Martin Couri have got the chops to deliver this rock n roll malarky in whatever tempo they choose. they don’t spend too long on the slow numbers nor do they just get their groove on but ‘Shake!’ is infectious as is ‘Better With You’.

La La Brook is back for her encore on the smooth ‘Run Run Runaway’. Throughout this bakers dozen it could easily be single after single and bringing the curtain down on this Fabulous record is the haunting ‘For Your Love’ as the guitar shimmers accompanied by some strings before Martin joins in and adds some vocals alongside his shuffling beat. If you want to know how to do retro in the best possible way with class and style but not forgetting to write top tunes then The Fabulous Courettes are ready and waiting and bearing their soul for everyone to enjoy and where they go next is anyone guess, the world is their oyster. Get on it right now!

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Author: Dom Daley