Name: Beat of Our Own Drum [Digipak]
Brand: Vampisoul Recor
SKU: 23054407
Availability: OutOfStock

Beat of Our Own Drum [Digipak]

Rating

Album: Beat of Our Own Drum [Digipak]
#	Song Title		Time
1)	The Beat (Of Our Own Drum)	More Info...	0:04
2)	Love One Another	More Info...	0:03
3)	Baltimore Is the New Brooklyn	More Info...	0:04
4)	Berry Please	More Info...	0:02
5)	How to Stop Loving Someone Who Stopped Loving You	More Info...	0:02
6)	Alright	More Info...	0:05
7)	75 Years of Art Sex	More Info...	0:04
8)	Hold You Back	More Info...	0:03
9)	He Does the Town	More Info...	0:03
10)	Here Comes the Fall	More Info...	0:04

Album: Beat of Our Own Drum [Digipak]
#	Song Title		Time
1)	The Beat (Of Our Own Drum)	More Info...	0:04
2)	Love One Another	More Info...	0:03
3)	Baltimore Is the New Brooklyn	More Info...	0:04
4)	Berry Please	More Info...	0:02
5)	How to Stop Loving Someone Who Stopped Loving You	More Info...	0:02
6)	Alright	More Info...	0:05
7)	75 Years of Art Sex	More Info...	0:04
8)	Hold You Back	More Info...	0:03
9)	He Does the Town	More Info...	0:03
10)	Here Comes the Fall	More Info...	0:04

Performer Notes

Personnel: JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound (vocals, background vocals); Billy Bungeroth (guitar, piano, background vocals); Paul Miller (trumpet, trombone); Alex Hall (piano, organ, Wurlitzer organ); Kevin Marks (drums, percussion, background vocals).
Audio Mixer: Eric Block.
Recording information: Semaphore Recording, Chicago, IL.
Photographer: Cyndi Shattuck.
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