Soul Coughing’s music nearly defies description. Not because it’s difficult or provocative, necessarily, but rather because it so skillfully fuses such disparate parts (jazz, hip-hop, free associative spoken word, pop, rock) that the resulting concoction is overwhelming in its originality.
The New York City-formed foursome making this eclectic sound (Mike Doughty, Mark degli Antoni, Yuval Gabay and Sebastian Steinberg) delivered three singular records near the turn of the century and then imploded in decidedly ugly fashion in the early 2000s.
So acrimonious was the split that the notion of a reunion was far-fetched. However, in 2024, time having soothed the wounds, Soul Coughing got back together, and decided to continue on into 2025, performing across the United States. They’ll pass through Dallas and the Longhorn Ballroom on April 18.
To help familiarize you with Soul Coughing’s distinct style, or further stoke your anticipation, here are five songs we hope make the setlist.
“Circles”
Perhaps Soul Coughing’s best-known single and definitely its biggest chart hit, this infectious sing-along rides a rubbery bass groove, aggressively plucked acoustic guitar and bizarre synthesizer flourishes alongside Doughty’s insistent refrain: “I don’t need to walk around in circles.”
“Super Bon Bon”
One of the chief pleasures of Soul Coughing’s catalog is how a repeated anodyne phrase (in this case: “Move aside/And let the man go through”) can turn into an urgent, electrifying component of a song. Non sequiturs abound across the band’s three albums, but in the context of the music, they somehow make perfect sense.
“Janine”
For all of its bristling erudition, Soul Coughing is a deceptively romantic band. Case in point, this sweet-and-sour, and musically stripped down, ode to pining after the titular woman, and all the myriad ways to illustrate a love (“Cause I spelled your name out on my license plate”).
“Screenwriter’s Blues”
Another weapon in Soul Coughing’s arsenal is carefully deployed cynicism. Los Angeles and the movie industry in Hollywood is, admittedly, an easy target, but this grimly compelling cut from 1994’s Ruby Vroom steeps the listener in a string-of-consciousness excursion into the seamy side of silver screen celebrity.
“Is Chicago, Is Not Chicago”
The opening track from the band’s debut, Ruby Vroom, might be the best encapsulation of the peculiar power of its approach. Scrutinize the lyrics, and you’ll likely come up empty (“A man cuts in half/Just like he snaps a pencil” — your guess is as good as ours), but give yourself over to the bouncing, stand-up bass and horror-movie strings, and you’ll enter a world unlike many others.
Soul Coughing at Longhorn Ballroom, Dallas. 9 p.m. April 18. Tickets are $25-$68.
Preston Jones is a North Texas freelance writer and regular contributor to KXT. Email him at preston@kxt.org or find him on Bluesky (@prestonjones.bsky.social).Our work is made possible by our generous, music-loving members. If you like how we lift up local music, consider becoming a KXT sustaining member right here.
