For the UK audience, Soul Asylum will be best remembered for an all too brief moment in the early to mid 90s when the band gained regular exposure on MTV. Their 1992 album ‘Grave Dancer’s Union’ gave them a belated smash hit, and with a lot of years’ distance it’s still very easy to understand why. The record’s noisier fare connected with an alternative crowd looking for something more melodic than the grunge that dominated the rock scene at the time, and the more tuneful numbers harked back to peak Tom Petty crossed with something that sounded like the Lemonheads in bigger musical boots. Although by accident rather than design, this would be an album that connected with a huge cross section of rock fans around the world.

Some thirty two years and seven albums later, Pirner and his band sound much more ragged on ‘Slowly But Shirley’. That takes a little adjustment on behalf of the listener, especially if your fandom was built upon tunes like ‘Misery’, ‘Just Like Anyone’ and ‘Black Gold’, but there’s some great material lurking within.‘The Only Thing’, in particular, has a great energy: the guitars straddle roots rock and garage rock, and the piercing lead is easily recognisable as having the same role as with past SA works, providing a great countermelody throughout, whilst Dave’s slightly gruff voice conveys a great confidence as he chews through an expletive laden hook. Slowing down a little, ‘Freeloader’ works a whirring lead guitar against a solid rhythm, and calls upon clanging guitars to drive a rootsy rock workout that sounds more like Boston’s Dirty Truckers and Watts than peak Soul Asylum, but Pirner’s voice remains distinctive enough to appeal to fans. In some ways, this is the kind of track that wouldn’t work quite as effectively without the raw sound, and Michael Bland’s drums punch through with a genuine edge. You’ll find better numbers on this album, but in terms of capturing the 2024 Soul Asylum in good shape, this is very much an album highlight.

For those hoping to find something with a little more polish, ‘High Road’ delivers something a little closer in spirit to the band’s ‘Hang Time’ era work, blending a roots rock sound with a garage punk energy, constantly pushing the guitars forward. Pirner’s vocals come with a great sharpness, and the interplay between his and Ryan Smith’s chopping guitars is absolutely brilliant. Listen a little more carefully, though, and you’ll find a tune that’s absolutely stolen by an impressively busy bassline. He might not always take the most prominent role on this LP, but Jeremy Tapperero plays up an absolute storm here. Although this doesn’t reach peak Soul Asylum – as per the best bits of ‘GDU’, the following album’s largely forgotten single ‘Just Like Anyone’, and the pop-rock perfection of ‘Candy From A Stranger’s finest tracks – it’s certainly a tune that lifts this album’s quality threshold higher than some people might expect for a band who’ve drifted back into the realms of cultdom.

Another track that shares a very “traditional” Soul Asylum sound, ‘You Don’t Know Me’ takes the guts of radio friendly 70s pop rock and blends the retro feel with the most melodic elements of the band’s own 90s peak. There are glimmers of something that sounds as if it wants to drop into Thunderclap Newman’s ‘Something In The Air’ on occasion, and even a nod to the Rolling Stones most mellow material circa 1975, but the over-riding mood is one that sounds like a hazier version of ‘Candy From A Stranger’s lighter offerings. A heavily distorted guitar solo feels rather out of place here, but it doesn’t spoil this album’s most commercial tune. Elsewhere, ‘If You Want It Back’ provides a solid rocker that – again, capturing more of an old style SA sound – sounds like a proper throwback to the ‘Candy’ sessions, albeit dressed in slightly rougher clothes, and ‘Trial By Fire’ allows bassist Jeremy another opportunity to share a punchy sound on the verse, before a simple hook drifts back to a ‘Grave Dancer’s Union’ sound, which will surely please most fans. Neither track pushes the envelope, arrangement-wise, but both numbers are a solid reminder of Pirner’s melodic gifts, giving this record a couple more very solid tunes.

In an unexpected twist, ‘Sucker Maker’ finds Soul Asylum working a very retro blues funk groove. The guitars come loaded with a Zeppelin-esque swagger; a fluid bassline adds a different kind of 70s vibe, and Pirner stretches his voice accordingly. That voice provides the only real link with the band’s past, since there are times when this actually sounds more like a Black Crowes jam, but thanks to a tight rhythm section, something that should have been a definite anomale actually works well on its own terms. Another funk oriented piece ‘Tryin’ Man’ works far less well. You’ll find some great rhythm guitar work throughout, but there’s little to back that up. An aggressive lyric sits unconfortably atop something that sounds like a badly played Zep ‘Trampled Underfoot’ augmented by a heavily distorted vocal. From immediately sounding like something with a great, rocky promise, this is actually pretty irritating. ‘Waiting For The Lord’ adds another unexpected element, but in this case, an attempt at trying something different creates an album highlight. With a weird, bendy guitar part delivered with a Hawaiian tone, there’s something that really catches the ear. It really feels the benefit from using that to colour the tune rather than to dominate, since the core of the arrangement with its rootsy elements, wordy lyric and harmony drenched hook, is straight from the Pirner School of Soul Asylum classics. The odd guitar sound bleeds through elsewhere, lifting this far beyond the predictable. Quirky, yet accessible and very familiar, it’s easy to imagine this becoming a fan favourite over time.

…And as for ‘The Only Thing I’m Missing’, the album’s opening number which is left with the unenviable task of creating a good first impression of a rather varied musical affair? It doesn’t hit immediately, making it odd that it would be chosen to front this disc, but time spent uncovers a kind of rough and ready tune that – much like a lot of ‘Slowly…’ has its own charm. The bulk of the track mixes the energies of the band’s more famous material with a crying lead guitar, whilst a harmony driven hook and a couple of moments where the melody cheekily seems to reference The Who’s ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again’ lend more of a welcome melodic edge. It isn’t classic Soul Asylum by any means, and takes a few plays to work, but for the bigger fan, it could eventually become the kind of track that’ll sit well on a playlist.

At the time of this release, with long-serving guitarist/founder member Dan Murphy having been absent for twelve years and bassist Karl Muller having passed away, Soul Asylum doesn’t equate to much more than the Dave Pirner Band, but at its best, ‘Slowly But Shirley’ still manages to show Pirner very positively, and acts as a reminder of his gifts as a great songwriter. It’s relative rawness means it’s unlikely to be a record that connects with the world in the way that ‘Grave Dancers Union’ once had, but in many ways, it doesn’t need to. Pirner no longer has anything to prove, and this album’s best moments add more than enough to the Soul Asylum legacy to please any hardcore fans.

September 2024