Call it the Selena-Kurt syndrome.  That's where an artist dies an unnatural death and record sales soar.  That's probably what swamp pop phenoms Blind Melon can look forward to, however morbidly, since singer Shannon Hoon's recent overdose.  The band's latest, Soup, was plummeting down the charts when Hoon was found dead in the group's tour bus.  The news is doubly sad since Soup showed maturity and song writing growth over Melon's 1993 multi-platinum debut.

        Interviewed prior to Hoon's death, drummer Glen Graham was characteristically blunt when asked about their extraordinary debut success.  "We did the album and thought it's pretty good, then listened to it for a few months and realized it's shit.  Then it came out and went through the roof and we're just sitting here laughing, because something we weren't particularly proud of was being revered because of one song.  But with Soup, where obviously there has been an evolution, the album has just sat there.  That's kind of funny to me."

        Recorded in New Orleans, suffused with scalding rhythms and gritty melodies, Soup is the sound of a band still taken with pop music, yet ready to explore more diverse terrain.  The songs buck and kick like a bronco snorting cayenne sauce.  "When we got signed," explains Graham, "We hadn't played a live show, just a few showcases for labels.  Between then and Soup, there has been two years of touring.  We really weren't a band when we first signed.  Soup was written by everyone individually then we got together and worked it all before we went into the studio."

        So has Blind Melon reinvented the concept album, their version of Dark Side of the Moon or Superunknown? Not hardly.  "I don't know if there is any song writing focus in this band whatsover.  It's really a fly-by-night operation.  I can't stress that enough.  We literally just get together and it either happens or it doesn't.  We wrote more songs that are even better than Soup even.  Soup has the more reserved songs of the batch.  I don't mean that we're going into Frank Zappa land, but the ones to come are more interesting."  Hanging out in New Orleans' famed "Quarter" each night after recording, Blind Melon checked out all the locals.  Snooks Eaglin, Klezmer All Stars, Walter Wahington-the rustic blues and hoary panache of New Orleans' nightlife helped inject some needed fatback into the Blind Melon gumbo.  "I think this album will definitely surprise people.  Our whole emphasis on the first one was 'No Rain' from the get-go.  That's pretty much how we've been known.  Soup doesn't have that much to do with that, so yeah (laughs) I think it will surprise people."