Beyond the valley of the soul brothers

>> The Delta 72's Gregg Foreman defines "it"

by JOHNSON CUMMINS

The term "soul music" is one slippery eel. Billy Preston, Rufus Thomas, James Brown or John Coltrane--any question? Nah, I didn't think so. Those guys ooze soul music from their every pore.

Here's where things get tricky, though. You don't have to look like a member of Kool and the Gang or sound like Al Green to have soul. Soul music transcends colour, and sometimes even sound. Black Flag's Greg Ginn, for instance, has more soul in his pinky than R. Kelley will ever have.

After one listen of the Delta 72's 000 you will realize that this Philadelphia quartet more than have "it." Mixing traditional soul à la Booker T. and the MGs with punk rock, the Delta 72 have definite soul power. Unlike Beck's recent soul fumblings, though, the Delta 72 sound is completely irony-free.

"I really thought that Beck record just had way too much irony," explains guitarist and singer Gregg Foreman. "It's like a joke record. For me, good soul music should be able to transcend time and place and have a lot of honesty and spirituality to it, be it James Brown, MC5 or D'Angelo."

Soul brother Foreman, you may notice, bears an uncanny likeness to the character Z-man Barzell in Russ Meyer's cult favourite Beyond the Valley Of the Dolls. "I get that Z-man thing a lot and it used to bug me, but now I've come to grips with it and will even scream out, 'This is my happening and it freaks me out' every now and again. The next thing I have to learn to deal with is people who don't know much about musical history and come up to us after a show and say, 'Yo dude, you guys sound like the Black Crowes.'" :

With Boss Hog at Cabaret on Friday, May 12, 9pm, $15.50+taxes