MUSIC REVIEW: THE STEPKIDS - 'STONES THROW SHOWCASE EP'

Something For The Weekend: A Free EP Showing Sweet Sounds the Kids Can Make

By: Seth Shellhouse

November 4, 2011

This week, in the wake of CMJ, Stones Throw has released a seven-song EP from The Stepkids that was recorded live during their CMJ performance at Converse's Rubber Tracks facility in Brooklyn.

Everything I've read about The Stepkids -- which, of late, has been a great deal -- has fallen a bit short in defining their sound. I suppose this review will do the same, and that's one of the greatest things I can possibly write about a band.  The Stepkids are hard to nail down.  Though playing with chemistry, they aren't too far out there with experimentation; their sound is a well-versed amalgam of soul, psych, jazz, rock, and funk. Most reviews of The Stepkids would classify them as a soul band, and to an extent, I agree, but at times, they're more psych or even more funk than soul.

To many historians, soul was born when the guitar began to take on the role of the horns in R&B.  And soul guitar owes as much to the more experimental work of the great electric blues players and to the developments in the electric guitar as it does to the vocal melodies and harmonies of R&B.  On this live Stepkids EP, the guitar is the thing. The rhythm section is rock solid.  The bass is melodic, effected, syncopated, and frequently occupies the frontline.  The drums are technically creative, and hit you with some really cool and unexpected jazz fills. Overall, however, it's the guitar and, arguably, the Crybaby Wah as much as the guitar itself that leads this band in its hustle between soul, rock, funk, and psych.

One of the best examples of genre-bending on this record is "Legend in My Own Mind." Electric Ladyland was, by all accounts, Jimi Hendrix's most experimental album, and the current single from The Stepkids immediately evokes it.  The guitar will remind you of Jimi's work on "Have You Ever Been?" (or the bridge from 1983, given Jimi's penchant for reprising his parts throughout a record.  And, in other album Jimi-isms, this track features lyrics that will remind you of "Little Wing" and a synth that mimics the glockenspiel from the same. 

As far as vocals are concerned, The Stepkids will immediately remind you of white soul contemporaries like Robin Thicke or Mayer Hawthorne, but being a band and focusing more on arranging their vocals within the framework of band compositions allows them to do far more than just croon. On the aforementioned "Legend in My Own Mind," and maybe even more so on "Santos and Ken," The Stepkids pull off the playful vocal tones and layers that were perfected by Parliament (think Placebo Syndrome) but with a bit of a Plastic Soul-era Bowie slant, and the vocal runs and asides on "Brain Ninja" sound like Bootsie at his stankiest.

When The Stepkids slow it down, even more diverse influences are evident.  When the organ appears ("Sweet Salvation"), it will remind you of Ray Manzarek, but sometimes, particularly during "Shadows On Behalf" or La La, the overall mix will remind you of an all-male Friends of Distinction or an all-male 5th Dimension or, more appropriately, an all-male 5th Dimension covering Cream. These songs certainly channel that specifically 1969/1970 soul that incorporated equal elements of jazz and psychedelica, but that's not the entire story because, as mentioned earlier, numbers like "Santos and Ken" and "Brain Ninja" clearly got shot with the Bop Gun.

Overall, the sound is excellent on this EP. It sounds like a proper recording from the board along with a decent amount of room tone.  It's very crisp for a live recording, and I have a feeling the Converse facility is pretty awesome. I hope they'll invite me sometime (hint). The mix is very balanced and the band's got chops. You should go download this. 

Standout Tracks: "Brain Ninja," 'Santos and Ken," "Legend in My Own Mind"

For Fans Of: Parliament, Air, Phoenix