Toronto soul outfit Yuka have been billed as Canada’s answer to Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings. It’s a hefty bill, but the seven-piece sufficiently deliver on their fourth release. From The Ancients showcases a band committed to preserving the sounds of 1950s and 60s soul – so much so that they recorded to 8-track tape, mixed on an analog console and pressed it straight to vinyl. (The press release cheekily mentions that the album also contains a digital download card “just for kicks.”)
While Jones channels the raw, driving energy of Memphis soul as personified by Stax Records, Yuka’s polished version evokes Motown’s Detroit sound. Album openers Good To Me and Make Up Your Mind are jaunty, pop-tinged odes to soul’s favourite subjects: keeping a good man and getting tired of a no-good one. Vocalist Claire Doyle, who appears on three tracks, is the linchpin here. She sings with enough conviction, and a touch of grit, to elevate those songs above cliché.
Elsewhere, when Yuka return to their instrumental-only roots, it’s easy to see why they’ve built a reputation for crowding dance floors. Tracks like Defibrillator showcase arrangements that feel like frenzied conversations between the rhythm section and horns.
While the album’s called From the Ancients, the band pilfers at least one song from the contemporary charts. Their cover of Taylor Swift’s Shake It Off retains the earworm melody but laces it with a languid funk groove and a reworked 60s girl group pre-chorus. If that song used to be your guilty pleasure, you can now listen to it with no shame.
Top track: Defibrillator
Yuka play 3030 Dundas West on Friday (April 22). See listing.
