Searching for the Young Soul Rebels was the 1980 debut album by Birmingham
pop-soul band Dexys Midnight Runners. Dexys Midnight Runners, or Dexys for
short, on first glance were quite an interesting group and not really a typical
80s band. For starters, they only released three albums during the first half
of the decade before separating and then returning again in 2003. Secondly,
they played an unusually quirky variant of soul music which in itself was quite
unusual for the time in a period dominated by synth pop and new wave acts. And
finally their original eight year existence included a revolving door of
musicians coming and going like flies in what was seemingly a real life Spinal
Tap situation. On paper their line-up appears like that of a philharmonic
orchestra with the bands overall membership during this time aside from
constant feature and band leader singer-songwriter Kevin Rowland coming to a
grand total of thirty-seven members in eight years. Although the lifespan of a
Dexys member wasn’t long, especially if you were a trumpeter or saxophonist, the
constant line-up changes didn’t prevent them from making quality music and in particular
a smashing debut album.
Searching for the Young Soul Rebels would be one of the more distinctive
sounding albums of the 80s, a sound which I would describe as pop-soul. This sound
is centred on a full horn section which forms the base of most of the tracks on
the album and drives these songs along at full tilt. The soulfulness of the horns
and organ combine nicely with the pop-punk aggression in Kevin Rowland’s vocals
and the backing rhythm section which gives the overall album an intense edge
much like that of punk rock. Rowland is clearly the creative force in the band,
hence his survival while others have perished, and it is his slightly campish extravagant
pop vocals which amazingly fit right in with this massive horn sound. His voice
is not your typical soothing soul voice full of range and power think Aretha,
think Otis, his style is more quirky and playful and certainly not conventional
in a soul sense, which in many respects is the perfect fit for the bands quite
extravagant and may I say loud sound. This combination just shouldn’t work, a
kind of British brass band horn sound with soul undertones and a quirky pop
singer, but it does somehow and it works very well. One influence that can definitely
be heard on here is that of Northern soul – a music and dance movement that
came out of the north of England in the late-60s, and although this movement isn’t
directly aligned to the Dexys, it does share the soul influence of Stax and
Motown and an overall ethos that involves producing music that you can dance
to.
Throughout
the album the music tends to stick to an up-tempo horn driven Motown style of
pop-soul with songs like “Tell Me When My Light Turns Green” and “Seven Days Too
Long”, the pop song on the album with a very catchy chorus. The band also
indulge in what sounds like reggae on “Geno” especially with its bass line and
horn parts, a great song which to me even sounds like a pre-curser to the likes
of New Zealand’s own Fat Freddy’s Drop and the Black Seeds. Although most of
the tracks have an up-tempo feel, there are occasional moments which contain a
more down-beat jazz soul vibe, notably during “I’m Just Looking” and “Keep It”.
These songs do a good job in just breaking up the intensity of the horn-infused
dance tracks and allow the listener to sit and take a breather for a moment,
that is if they have been up and dancing as expected.
Searching for the Young Soul Rebels although not a big hit was very well
received by critics and many still consider it to be one of the best debuts
album of all time. Allmusic described Rowland as having “the unexpected but
perfect voice to capture a time and moment in the UK, the return of soul to
English rock music at the dawn of Thatcherism”, heavy praise indeed. This sort
of sentiment I feel fits perfectly with this album as it was unusual to see a band
playing this kind of music, not to mention it was their own personal take on
soul and not just a copy of music which had for a while till that point gone
out of fashion in England. This album to me is a very interesting and distinctive
album and stands apart from other albums of the time as a musical avenue of quirkiness
and eccentricity within what was a growing conservatism in the music industry.
I can think of only people like Ian Dury who were doing things of a similar ilk
at the time in the UK, in an industry which in the past was full of eccentric
songwriters such as Lennon, Davies, Bowie and Mercury. Although it wasn’t a revolutionary album
musically and didn’t contribute to any musical movement as such, it achieved
what it set out at the time and that was to bring soul back to British music
and attract new young soul rebels to welcome in the new soul vision as Rowland
boldly proclaims on the albums closing track “There, There, My Dear”. In a
decade full of inconsistent returns album wise, this one stands out as one of
the best, proving also that there was a lot more musically to this thirty-seven
strong band than just Eileen (referring to their hit single “Come on Eileen”).
A-
- Sam
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