The Soul Surfers – Tribute To The J.B.’s

This thing slid right under our radar, so we would be remiss to not talk about The Soul Surfers from Russia once again. This quartet who, let’s face it, have been tearing up our funk and soul scene for a minute now, are back paying tribute to the kings of the sound, the mighty J.B.’s. Whether on Funk Night, Spasibo, or Ubiquity Records (where you can get this seven inch from), The Soul Surfers represent funk to the fullest. They’ve carved out a niche with their own sound: heavy funky soul their own way, and boy have the masses responded. They tackle two JB’s classics on this 45, “Popcorn With A Feeling”, which is just a slow churning belter. The guitar work, as always is spot on and when the groove gets locked in, all bets are off. A respectful and funky tribute to the masters of the genre. But they did not want to stop there, they decided it would be ok to cover “Givin’ Up Food For Funk” as well. An all instrumental version, this one resonates like the original and is a funky fresh take on one of our favorite J.B.’s tracks. The organ shines bright as it locks up with the guitar, bass, and drums. Sometimes we take these tracks for granted, and when a band like The Soul Surfers takes these tracks to another level, it makes us smile. Plus, our necks hurt from nodding it hard. Great tribute to the Godfather of Soul and the J.B.’s on the label as well. Tight and out of sight. Stream the tracks below.