The Montclairs: "Dreaming Out Of Season"

Sweet, sweet soul on the small, Louisiana-based Paula label.  The Montclairs, from East St. Louis, share a number of the collective aspects prevalent on much of the group soul being released around the country at the time this record came out (1972).  Fragile, accentuating strings pepper the arrangements, as the Montclairs step out with smooth harmonies and a typical lead falsetto sound.  Then there are the moments on the LP that make you realize this was a local, small-label project at its core, and so the singers, along with noted producer/musician Oliver Sain, have the opportunity to do more experimentation than would usually be prudent on such an undertaking.  The title track is perfect, a masterpiece in league with work by better-known artists like the Delfonics, Stylistics, Dells, Dramatics, etc.  The other essential track is the epic, eight-minute “Do I Stand A Chance,” which starts out more or less in pedestrian fashion, with a lightly funky rhythm dancing around a pleading falsetto.  As the track proceeds, however, the vocals start to become more disembodied, almost ghostly, bathed in reverb and adding an unsettling ghostliness to what would otherwise be a fairly standard genre exercise.  It can only be described as “acid music for sweet soul heads.”  The rest of the album has its surprises also, from the singer-songwriter-ish, acoustic guitar-led bridge of “Beggin’ Is Hard To Do,” to the pensive, quasi-folk-soul of “Just Can’t Get Away.”  While this record did respectably well in the local-label market, due to the regional success of its title cut, it is almost positive that very few now remember the Montclairs, and what a shame, ‘cause these dudes bring the heat on the sweet soul tip.  Check ‘em out.