Chooglin': Sweet Time

By Loren Green :

Enough has been made of Chooglin's CCR-derived name. The music speaks for itself, and it says "party" all the way from its BBQ-themed packaging to the driving rock of "Take Your Sweet Time," which starts the record with rollicking guitar licks that transmit an urgent message: Get your beer and get back to the dance floor. Having conquered the Entry with February's live Nice Place, Nice Party, Nice Folks, the band returns with their second studio album.

On Sweet Time, they seek to expand their repertoire. Alternating mid- and slow-tempo songs with guitar rockers, they succeed at mixing up their sound without activating the listener's skip-button reflex. Early on, they present a slower song, "Nexium of Interest," which builds and seamlessly transitions into "Airport Bar," a full-on drinking song proclaiming, "You got the party/I got the soul/Time to get ready/Let's go go go." Brian Vanderwerf's ability to shift from an open-throat wail to an earnest lament without disruption is what holds the disc together among what could easily be some jarring tempo shifts.

When they tone things down, the horn section adopts a rhythm role, which adds a peppiness that a simple guitar/bass/drum combo would lack. The band adopts numerous styles, as is apparent on the psychedelia-tinged "Hal's Haberdashery" and the "Johnny B. Goode" rocker "Gone, Gone, Gone." But the band's true identity is found in their energetic, bluesy, and—ahem—horny '70s rock 'n' roll. Chooglin's primary focus is danceable, fun music—the kind in which the word "baby" almost always finds its way into the lyrics.

By Emma Quinlan:

When this CD was uploaded to the ever faithful iTunes on the not so faithful PC, apple decided to categorises this music as R 'N' B. Huh? It seems that Chooglin's sound has managed to confuse even the cleverest of minds, but when listening to "Sweet Time" is not hard to see why even the sharpest of technological minds, were baffled.

Chooglin are a band from Minneapolis, US, comprising of not only the usual singer-guitar-bass-drum setup, but they also have two trombone players, a bass trombone/tuba/mellophone player and a trumpet player. Yes, they have their own horn section, (no pun intended). This is not the only thing that sets these boys apart from the rest of the music world. The music they actually make is quite bizarre. No category is suitable for them, unless jazz-infused rock & roll, with a classic rock twist and blues tinged guitar beats, is a genre.

From the moment the CD is in the disk drive, the variety in the tracks is apparent. "Take Your Sweet Time" is a modern day rock and roll song, sounding like a cross between Queens Of the Stone Age and Lynyrd Skynyrd. The next two tracks, "Waltz in D" and "Nexium Of Interest", have equally as many jazz melodies as they do guitar riffs, whilst track four, "Airport Bar", fuses more classic rock vocals, with major guitar riffs. "Gone, Gone, Gone" sounds suspiciously like Chuck Berry's 50's hit "Johnny B Goode", but with some extra riffs, drum rolls and trumpet players added to the mix.

The problem with "Sweet Time" is that although Chooglin' should be commended for their abilities to un-categorical music, the music itself isn't groundbreaking. The record sometimes sounds as if it's stuck in the 70's and desperately needs to get out of it. Yes it's inventive, but it just doesn't sound new and refreshing, but rather tiresome. Classic rock may be making a comeback, what with ACDC, Whitesnake, ZZ Top, Thunder (you get the drift), all making appearances this year and even some making new records, but these bands established themselves in the 70's, not in 2009.

"Sweet Time" does shine with brilliance, but some songs also sound as if Chooglin' are trying to do too much. By infusing blues, classic rock and jazz, they have not only made some very good songs, but they have made some tracks sound too hectic, whilst others sound outdated. Chooglin' may be a genre defying band, but musically defying they're not. Maybe they should focus on the present rather than the past.