Lambs to the Slaughter

Previous No-Fi Soul Rebellion albums like The Varitable Rainbow of Song and The Olden Days: Pure Gold established the heights that multi-instrumentalist Mark Heimer's vivacious funk-pop could scale, but this EP-length release finds him following a louder muse. While Lambs to the Slaughter retains the infectious hooks and irony-free optimism of the best No-Fi Soul Rebellion material, Heimer opts for a full-blooded rock attack on a few tracks and the sentiments are earthier all around. "Beautiful & Hard" alternates smooth, radio-ready riffs with bursts of cacophonous release while Heimer plays both roles in a boy-girl duet, cooing dirty sweet nothings into his own ears and fighting a one-man war between the sexes. "The Acrobat" rides a dark groove through the loneliness of thin air to question the motives of an audience full of innocent bystanders, while "Ch*rch" issues a cogent invitation into the flock that drips with real soul. The triumph of the truly righteous is promised with "We Are David, You Are Goliath(?)," and the set concludes with a straight-shooting pep talk ("There's no excuse for you/Not to do what you don't want to/Don't like it, that's cool/Life is a mistress, harsh and cruel") in "Let's Go to America." A bonus Quicktime video for the exuberant noise of "Let's Get Nasty" is included and will give the uninitiated fan a taste of the loony energy generated by a live No-Fi Soul Rebellion performance.