Beat of Our Own Drum

Chronique

They've been called "punk soul," but Chicago's JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound are essentially a soul band with rock chops, and how far you go along with them depends on where you're starting. Groovewise, they take their cues from the M.G.'s, the J.B.'s, et al, just as, say, Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings do, but they make less of an overt attempt at reproducing that sound. Whether it's because they can't or because they have other fish to fry (probably both) is a chicken-and-the-egg question of little consequence. Their closest spiritual kin among their contemporaries are bands like the Detroit Cobras who jump back and forth at will between ‘60s soul and scrappy garage rock. The hard-eged Detroit sound informs the Uptown Sound's sensibilities on both the punk and R&B sides, as they cite the Stooges and Funkadelic among their key influences. Of course, the album's single and opener, "Baltimore Is the New Brooklyn" might also conceivably confuse some into thinking that town is the home of these Windy City soul men. For most of their debut album, Beat of Our Own Drum, Brooks and company work up a sweaty, stomping sound that makes good use of both their garage rock grit and their emotive, soulful side. On slow-burning songs like "Here Comes the Fall," though, where some straight-up R&B crooning is required, Brooks' voice begins to sound a bit thin, and the underdevelopment of the subtler side of the Uptown Sound's dynamic range starts to seem like something of a liability. While these qualities are the things that keep Beat of Our Own Drum from being all things to all soulsters, for the most part it works just fine as a jump-and-shout party record.
© J. Allen /TiVo