I actually kinda/sorta liked this song during its year of what seemed like hourly airplay on Seattle’s KCMU/KEXP (it’s right on the cusp o’ that local re-branding shift, so I don’t recall which call letter era it falls into, specifically), and at the very least it has stuck wit’ me all these years, but I greatly disliked them and all they represented and portended in the realm of misprised American Roots Music amongst The Alt Generation.
If I had to boil my take on 16 HP all the way down to its essence, I’d call them “Sepia Music for Sepia Suckers”!
Or perhaps “Boo-hoo fer Bohos”. “Banjos fer the Bearded”? “Fedoras fer the Feckless”? “Pigtails fer the Pigheaded”? “No Whine before its Time”? “The Old Softshoe in a Chalk Storm”?
Bah! I give up….
Anyhow, “Black Soul Choir” was probably Head of the Class in The Year of Our No Depression 1996, which is both a mild compliment to 16 HP, and a stern indictment of that strain of Y’All-ternative Country they exemplified.
That’s how seeing/hearing “Black Soul Choir” again makes me feel.
Best regards,
– Tom
