Soup
A Tour of Two Cities
review = B

The first thing that registers is the texture. Soup’s music is chunky. Splitting time between accordion and harmonica, multi-instrumentalist Andrew Margolius, adds the extra ingredients to Soup’s basic two guitar, bass and drums, rock and roll broth. While the mixture is tasty, it’s not always distinctive. At times the Atlanta quintet catches a harmonica driven groove that goes where Blues Traveler has gone before, and when the accordion's out, there’s more than a little Dave Matthews vibe goin’ on. But that’s not to say that Soup is always cooking with someone else’s fire. Several tunes on this double live album burn brightly. Example - "Breakdown" and "Leisure Suit." Both stretch out well crafted psychedelic rockers and sound fresh. They also showcase the band’s sweet three part harmonies, a strength throughout. In a nod to its influences, Soup ends the first disc with the Beatles’ "Dear Prudence," and disc two with the traditional gospel number, "Bid You Goodnight," followed by an encore of Dylan’s "Tangled Up in Blue." It’s no coincidence that both the Beatles and Dylan tunes were covered by the Jerry Garcia Band, and that the Grateful Dead occasionally closed an extra special show with "Bid You Good Night." Wanna feed the head? Have some Soup.

Released on the Phoenix Presents label, this CD is only available online at http://www.radiophoenix.com.