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Souled American got the proverbial shaft. It’s a well-known story, but one that bears repeating. Forming in Chicago in the late 80s, the band released four remarkable albums of howling roots-rock deconstruction before losing their stateside distribution when Rough Trade’s American division went belly up. Anachronistic and difficult to classify, these four albums– Fe, Flubber, Around the Horn, and Sonny (now back in print on tUMULt Records)– were largely ignored at the time of their release, and the situation was not helped by infrequent touring and a lack of press savvy. More recently, the band has toiled in near obscurity, releasing two albums on German labels since the mid-90s. In the end, though, Souled American was probably just too arty for a genre that puts such a high value on “authenticity.” Fortunately, the band seems to prefer its cult status. Of course, it’s hard not thinking about what might have been. The more or less contemporaneous Uncle Tupelo (which eventually split into Wilco and Son Volt) was handed the alt-country banner and basked in the spotlight while Souled American quietly pursued their craft in the darkness. “No Depression”– the movement and the accompanying magazine– could have just as easily been called “Feel Better” (the final track on Fe), if given a slightly different set of circumstances.