(Pravda)

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Classic instrumental soul will only take you so far. Booker T and the MGs had a big solo hit in "Green Onions," but they probably made their biggest splash as the Stax house band, backing artists like Otis Redding ("Sitting on the Dock of the Bay"), Sam & Dave ("Soul Man")  and Rufus Thomas ("Walking the Dog"). The Diplomats of Solid Sound, out of Iowa City, haven't found another Otis - who the hell could these days? - but they have figured out what they need to break through after ten years of laboring in garage funk obscurity:  singers, girl singers, the prettier the better.

For their fourth album the Diplomats have recruited three Midwestern girls to coo and growl and strut atop their fiery Stax-ish grooves. Never mind for the moment that they're white girls or that they have no discernable track record at this sort of thing. (Sarah Cram has a self-released country album called Darlin' under her belt; the other two don't seem to have recorded previously at all.) They are, in fact, exactly what the Diplomats needed to push their sound over the top.

This is a slightly reconfigured version of the Diplomats, missing original bassist Dustin Conner and organist Pat White. Founding guitarist Doug Roberson and organ player Nat Basinger make up the core of the band, with drummer Jim Viner and two sax players, David Basinger and Eddie McKinley. The liner notes list no bass player at all, which hardly seems possible, given the viscosity and swagger of these grooves. Still, there's not much wrong with the band's instrumental funk, as becomes clear when "Plenty Nasty"'s heavy skank kicks in, trailing evil trills of Hammond B3 and squawks of aggravated sax.   It's hip-shifting, finger-popping, boxed-in funk that can start a party... but maybe not finish one. And fine, that's what the Diplomettes are for.

You get your first glimpse with "Come in My Kitchen", with its tough-girl strut and hip-jutting bravado.  Whatever it is that's ready in this kitchen, it's hot and spicy and probably not food, and when it's gone, gone, gone, nobody's making any more. They're not really museum-quality soul singers. "Hurt Me So" has a very modern, hip hop-ish sheen to it, and "Lights Out", despite its heave and roll of old-school horns, feels ‘00s diva-ish. Yet there's no denying the body heat that percolates under "Smokey Places," with its undulating "bump, bump...ou-ah" counterpoint.  Nor can you deny the sensuality of "Hurt Me So," either the silvery, gospel toned original or the extended cowbell-clanging, dancehall remix by Lack of Afro, clearly the best cut of the album.

You could tie yourself in knots worrying about the authenticity of these Iowa City funksters or the short-skirted female singers that they've tapped to front them, but that would be a terrible waste. Without the Diplomettes, these Iowa City funksters are a footnote in garage-punk-soul history, making the kinds of records that get hoarded by collectors and kept in careful alphabetical order.  With them, they're a party in a CD case. Which would you prefer? 

Standout Tracks: "Come In My Kitchen," "Smokey Places," "Hurt Me So (Lack of Afro Remix)" JENNIFER KELLY