Red Knife Lottery Title: Soiled Soul & Rapture Label: Uprising Records Year: 2009 Rating: 4 / 5

Good god almighty! This record lands on my lap, name dissuades me from listening, I fight it, I pop it in and now I’m a fan. Glad I popped this record in. A truly wonderful record with the punk rock attitude of days past blended with music that’s truly colorful and with teeth. It was a real pleasure to hear Red Knife Lottery’s Soiled Soul & Rapture for it clearly is something of a gem amidst the sea of mediocrity. The powerful jabs of punk rock, the sultry yet powerfully jarring vocals of Ashley Chapman, the power grooves that sway in quick transitions in all directions, and the band’s well-written songs will have heads turning and your booty groovin’ and in no time. This type of music is the type of music that can change things up in the otherwise bland music scene. Taking the best parts of the aforementioned genres, Red Knife Lottery lets it all hang out and delivers the songs in an intense but sometimes delicate manner that can easily be on the radio. Listening to most of the tracks, I can’t help but think that it honestly sounds like a hardcore version of Katy Perry with Karen O’s sultry vocal approach, having make up sex with Black Flag. On fiery tracks like “Holy Skirts,” “Raise No Fool,” “Moral Fixation,” and “The Artist Is Nothing,” the band exposes the under belly of the music in all it’s greatness from dizzying jazzy spurts to hard chargin’ grooves to fist pumping freak outs. Lead single “Junkie Jazz” is the most accessible track on the record but is also one of the tracks that really exposes the true nature of this group in its entirety. Aside from being such a great song, it’s also radio ready and I’d be way surprised not to hear it on the radio anytime soon. The music is solid, fresh, sexy, inspiring and substantial in every aspect. Vocalist Ashley Chapman is definitely the main ingredient of this group and her dynamic range does speak for itself in a big way. But before we move on, let’s not count out the band which has some of the most interesting songwriting arrangements and composition I’ve heard this year. All in all, Red Knife Lottery’s Soiled Soul & Rapture is one piece of work with all the fat trimmed out. It boasts something new, something organic, and something exciting. Never a dull moment on the record, Red Knife Lottery has hit the sweet spot and boy has it never been sweeter. Purchase record, insert record, lose your mind.

By: Gian Erguiza