by Goth Brooks
MOTORSOULE is not your typical Orange County,
tattooed, wife beater, and chain wallet wearing, “I used to get loaded
with Mike Ness” bragging bunch of idiot musicians.
MOTORSOULE is everything a great Rock band
should be. High volume, bright lights, antagonistic, in your face
Rock and Roll! MOTORSOULE is goddamned loud and goddamned dangerous!
Formed out of the remains of The Wheels, Johnny Monster, Tripwire, Dirt
Clod Fight, and other O.C. bands either too famous or too shameful to mention,
MOTORSOULE have been around for a few  years.
This final and undoubtedly the best incarnation of MOTORSOULE have been
at it less than a year. After listening to their self-produced, self-titled,
and self-released CD, and seeing them live, you get the feeling they’ve
been around forever, and you’re even more amazed knowing that this isn’t
the case. I’d say MOTORSOULE has got to be the most conceptually
perfect band since KISS. And that just makes MOTORSOULE that much
more intriguing.
The closest I can come to labeling MOTORSOULE
would be to describe their sound, and their image as “Punk Rock and Roll”
(But don’t you dare call them Punk!). Their sound and their style
is reminiscent of legendary bands like X, The  Flesheaters,
The Dead Boys, and early Pretenders. Their highly stylized guitar
riffs have that unmistakable “Groovy Ghoulies” vibe to them courtesy of
Guitar God Dan and his masterful six string stylings. In addition
to that there’s the obvious cartoon influence carried over by ex-Johnny
Monster bass player, now MOTORSOULE guitarist Shane. Like Stiv Bators
before him, vocalist Ricki Menace is a scary little sucker,  and
I get the feeling that one of these days he’s gonna hurt himself, or someone
else with his onstage antics (Watch where you swing that microphone stand!).
Although unintentionally and not blatantly, Ricki showcases a voice that
sounds a lot like Jello Biafra. It’s a good thing though, and it’s
one of the many parts of the synthesis that works to create the sound that
is pure MOTORSOULE.
What MOTORSOULE have done with their self-titled
CD is thrown in all their best influences, their own deft musical and songwriting
skills, and the ability to get the desired effect onto CD. They’ve
bravely entered  into
the unknown and come out with something unique and of EPIC proportions
here. The overall sound is amazing and professional, yet not an “overproduced”
production. MOTORSOULE has mixed 12 raucous songs into an awesome
sonic landscape that entices you to go for a second and third spin, and
eventually makes you want to hit the replay button and listen until you
get tired of it. Which of course, you never do.
MOTORSOULE live is like a Rock and Roll
lounge act set to killer music. Their shows are quickly  becoming
the stuff that legends are made of. MOTORSOULE incorporates pieces
of glitter, glitz, and gore galore into their Rock and Roll spectacle.
These four guys and one fine gal have got such a cool style with their
BIG starched white collars and smoking jackets, offset by Ricki decked
out in the feather boa and motorcycle riding gear, looking like a deranged
version of Rob Halford ready to commit aggravated acts of whatever
it takes to mow-down anyone who gets in his way. They’ve  got
the cool light show happening, and they’ve got a big, shiny, silvery, sparkly
“M” surrounded by red Christmas tree lights hovering over Murdock and the
drum set. MOTORSOULE’s festival of lights live show goes over equally
as well in bigger clubs as it does in smaller clubs.
The buzz surrounding MOTORSOULE has gotten
around mostly by word-of-mouth. They’ve played with well known, as
well as lesser-known bands. Most notably was the historic one-off
gig opening for the OFFSPRING at the 13th floor a few months back.
I see big things around the corner for MOTORSOULE (Does the term “bidding
war” ring a bell?). Yep, I can feel it! I predict MOTORSOULE
will find themselves in the right place, at the right time, very soon!
Catch MOTORSOULE at the  Whiskey
on the 4th, The Tiki Bar on the 6th, The Coconut Teaser on the 7th, House
of Blues for two sold out nights on the 11th and the 12th, Johnny Depp’s
World famous Viper Room on the 21st, and Anaheim Stadium………Someday Soon!
MOTORSOULE is:
Ricki---Vocals
Dan---Guitars
Jen---Bass
Shane---Guitars
Murdock---Drums
For shows, reviews and other news, check
out www.motorsoule.com
Download MOTORSOULE MP3’s at www.loudenergy.com(scroll
down for Motorsoule)
To order MOTORSOULE’s 12 song CD,
send check or money order in the amount of $14.00 USD ($10.00 CD, plus
$4.00 shipping fee) to:
MOTORSOULE
2565 Greenbriar Ln.
Costa Mesa, Calif 92626
Comments Questions for
Goth Brooks? You can email him at
gothbrooks@antimusic.net
All photos courtesy of
Lou Jimenez
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