The Soul Surfers - Soul Rock! (2015)

"If, in the mid '90s, when I first heard real "new" funk and soul music made by the likes of Poets of Rhythm and the Desco crew – that in 2015 some of the realest funk left to be recorded would come from Russia, I would have said you were out of your mind. But The Soul Surfers are sincere, and their geographic location matters little when it comes to chicken scratch guitar, syncopated drums, throbbing bass lines and overall attitude: this is funk for the universal get down." -Eothen Alapatt aka Egon (Now-Again Records)

"One deeply impressive line-up of guests, and quite right too, as the Soul Surfers are one deeply impressive funk outfit" -Craig Charles (Craig Charles Funk And Soul Show, BBC 6 Music)

"This album shows a great variety of styles and moods, given to the fact it enlists contributions from some of the top rulers of the contemporary raw soul scene. Yes, this record is killin'it!!!" -JJ Whitefield (Poets Of Rhythm/Whitefield Brothers)

"What a fantastic album! Deep, rich authentic soul music made with real passion. This album could easily be mistaken as a rare nugget from the late 60's & early 70's." -Smoove (Smoove & Turrell)

After releasing countless collectable and in-demand 7in singles and making a name for themselves in the contemporary "raw funk and soul" scene, The Soul Surfers drop their debut album "Soul Rock!"; a magnum opus of raw, gritty soul and greasy funk featuring eminent guests from the aforementioned scene that birthed their sound. Soul crooners Myron & E break out of their "smooth" vocal personas and deliver a decidedly more stripped down and visceral performance in the lead-off single "You Can Run (But You Can't Hide) From My Love that also promises to be a dance floor filler. Co-collaborators JJ Whitefield from The Poets of Rhythm and Malcom Catto of the Heliocentrics add their signature touch on two of the album's "heavier" cuts "Raw" and "Stop Fooling Around." Label-mate, multi-instrumentalist and studio genius Shawn Lee lends his vocal, guitar and mixing board talents to "Time Is A Gun" while noted producer Didier from the Soul Investigators gets in on the mix, vibes, and percussion on the heavy slow-burner "Astra". Smoove & Turrell round out the album with the blue-eyed soul stomper "Straight Up".

Formed while still in highschool and eventually releasing 20+ singles on Detroit's "Funk Night Records" starting in 2011, The Soul Surfers are just getting started, led by Igor Zhukovsky who has this to say about their debut album, "we had a chance to collaborate and make this international album with so many cool guests from the best groups in the game all over the world. And there is no barriers with people worldwide - everybody can do what they love together, don't believe the shitty words of politicians!"