Album Review: Chuck Prophet "Soap and Water" - (8.9/10)

By Platypus

Chuck Prophet . Few other things bring a consistent smirk to my face. Well, maybe the thought of that goggled LA Lakers stalwart Kurt Rambis flailing for a loose ball does, but really, few other things do. I mean, how can you not smile at hearing a name that smacks of comic absurdity? It's a strange dichotomy: take a solid, aw shucks first name and pair it with a surname that speaks to a profession of grave biblical proportions. I'm not dogging the man; far from it. I'm more surprised that I didn't get wind of this Bay Area-based former frontman of Green on Red until this past winter, when I caught a show of his on a tip from a family friend. As they say, the rest was history: the Prophet had spoken his wisdom as he has for the better part of the past two decades, and the gospel came in the form of good old rock and roll.

Listening to Prophet's latest release, Soap and Water, brought this understated thought to mind: it rocks. Like the title implies, the album by and large is clean and simple, a showcase of the singer-songwriter-rocker's bread and butter. Lyrics and guitar riffs resound clear and true, accompanied by drums, bass, and touches of keys and backing vocals in just the right places. Though the lyrics often speak of heartbreak and wanderlust, Prophet's storytelling abilities lend his narratives an honest, endearing quality that made me often feel like I was listening to the man himself have a jam session on some small town front porch. This, folks, in many ways is American rock pure and true, unsullied by the gratuitous production fixings that seem to be everpresent in every other release today.

Yet for all its goodness, Chuck Prophet has always remained a performer who has successfully eluded being put into that proverbial box. The album is a journey through the many flavors of the ice cream parlor that is rock, taking scoops out of the blues ("A Woman's Voice" , "Small Town Girl" ), R&B tinged rock ("Freckle Song" ), new wave ("I Can Feel Your Heartbeat" ), and even some down-home, knee-slapping grooves ("Downtime" ) at various turns, all bound together by Prophet's voice that for some might evoke Tom Petty-esque comparisons. (As an aside, when I first saw Prophet he reminded me of a dorky version of the man who last danced with Mary Jane , cardigan and all. But I digress; he is indeed his own man, all apologies to Mr. Petty.)

Dare I venture to say that Chuck Prophet belongs in the pantheon of great musicians a la Dylan, Cash, and Springsteen that have graced the musical fabric of our nation? Some of you might say that's a bit of a stretch, but I said it, so there. I don't know how better to qualify this, but after taking a spin through Soap and Water again yesterday I was struck by the thought that this is a little bit of America right here. Not America in the sense of flag waving and nationalistic chest-beating, mind you, but America in the sense of telling stories of lives lived as they are, for better or worse. Soap and Water is a good clean romp in this department, product of a man and his craft. Take a dive in: you just may find yourself converted to the way of Chuck Prophet.