Soul-Junk is an

experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs whe ...

genre-hopping

Christian rock Christian rock is a form of rock music that features lyrics focusing on matters of Christian faith, often with an emphasis on Jesus in Christianity, Jesus. This music is typically performed by Christians, Christian individuals. The extent to whi ...

and

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

group from

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California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

Background

The roots of Soul-Junk began in 1993 when Glen Galloway began experimenting while touring in Europe with his rock band Trumans Water. By the time Trumans Water moved to

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

in 1994 he had already left and concentrated on Soul-Junk as a full-time independent solo project, eventually taking the moniker Glen Galaxy. Influences on the group's early music include Nation of Ulysses,

Sonic Youth Sonic Youth were an American rock band formed in New York City in 1981. Founding members Kim Gordon (bass, vocals, guitar), Thurston Moore (lead guitar, vocals) and Lee Ranaldo (rhythm guitar, vocals) remained together for the entire history of ...

, and Can. Galloway had been raised as a

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

but had been an outspoken

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since leaving home for school.Floyd, John (1997)
God and Junk
, ''

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'', February 13, 1997, retrieved November 21, 2009 Shortly before joining Trumans Water, however, he had returned to Christianity; later telling his bandmates God had called him to leave the band.

Musical Evolution

Early Soul-Junk albums (such as ''1950'') almost exclusively feature low-fi,

Indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

style tracks of Glen singing Bible verses interlaced with instrumental noise tracks, with a similarity to his previous band but with overtly Christian lyrics. As Soul-Junk gained members its sound advanced toward rock and pop. ''1953'' and ''1954'' show signs of this continual change. ''

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'' stated in a review of ''1953'' that their indie musical arrangements are outstanding, "tuneful, energetic and original (almost to a fault)." ''1955'' is transitional, both in terms of Soul-Junk's sound and market stance. Like previous releases most of the lyrics came directly from the Bible, but ''1955'' was their first album released on a Christian record label. The double-disk set consists of pop / Indie rock /

influenced sounds. It is also the last disk to make extensive use of Biblical quotes before ''1959''. While there are fewer lyrics derived from scripture, the albums ''1956'' through ''1958'' still reflect on the groups' Christianity based viewpoint, sometimes offering critiques of the Church in a stream-of consciousness manner. On ''1956'' the sound shifts toward hip hop, leading ''

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'' to describe it as "beyond offbeat, beyond eclectic... beyond the grasp of its market." This position is intentional according to Galaxy, who seeks to reach a wider audience than simply the church, and states "We do need to rock the boat... I dont particularly want anyone to think they know what they can expect from Soul-Junk." The albums ''1957'' and ''1958'' are based in experimental, abstract hip-hop which sometimes adds elements of "avant-jazz." Glen explained this period to ''HM Magazine'', stating "energy-wise I'm feeling the drum n' bass, I'm feeling chaotic

turntablism Turntablism is the art of manipulating sounds and creating new music, sound effects, mixes and other creative sounds and beats, typically by using two or more Phonograph, turntables and a cross fader-equipped DJ mixer. The mixer is plugged into ...

. But texture-wise I was feeling hip-hop." The resulting sound is fragmented; Soul Junk's "berserk-hop" on these albums is "hip-hop so out-there, so deconstructed, so avant-garde" that it creates a "carnival aesthetic". Between 2003 and 2007, no albums were released. Instead, Glen embarked on an effort to put the entire text of the Bible to music. The first results are ''1959'' (released in 2007) which consists of

Psalms The Book of Psalms ( , ; ; ; ; , in Islam also called Zabur, ), also known as the Psalter, is the first book of the third section of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) called ('Writings'), and a book of the Old Testament. The book is an anthology of B ...

1-23 verbatim, and "1960" (released in 2009) which consists of all 22 sub-chapters of

119. Glen has also released the entire

Book of Genesis The Book of Genesis (from Greek language, Greek ; ; ) is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its Hebrew name is the same as its incipit, first word, (In the beginning (phrase), 'In the beginning'). Genesis purpor ...

through his web site. Shortly after recording 1960 (with Daniel Smith from Danielson Famile), Glen started playing with his son Jude on drums and daughter Mila. His brother Jon returned on bass, and his brother Brian started playing keyboards and guitar.

Recurring members

*Glen Galaxy *Jude Galaxy *Mila Galaxy *Jon Galaxy *Brian Galaxy *Slo-Ro (2001–2005) *Brian Cantrell (1995–2000) * DJ Mizzicah (1997–2003) *Ron Easterbrooks (1995–1998) *Nathan Poage (1998–2000) Many others are credited per album or track.

Discography

Album naming convention

The first Soul-Junk release was called ''1950''. Its name was derived from the musical style of the era, a fusion of

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

and free-jazz. According to Glen, "1950...was a good year for music". Subsequent albums have been numbered up from 1950; Extended Play releases have been numbered down, but further numbering does not reflect the music of those years. Soul-Junk songs have also been released on many compilations.

References

External links

{{Authority control Christian hip-hop groups American hip-hop groups Homestead Records artists Musical groups established in 1993 Musical groups from California Musical groups from San Diego Experimental hip-hop Shrimper Records artists Sub Pop artists