| CD REVIEW Cherry Choke |
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Band : Cherry Choke I have always been a fan of Josiah (the UK-one, not the US-one) and The Kings of Frog Island, but this band that includes guitarist/vocalist Matt Bethancourt doesn’t sound exactly like Matt’s other bands. It’s their debut and it's sort of R n’ B based, yet still quite a bit different, as it touches more on, say, a late sixties nugget style of rock. Early Stones, Tomorrow, Baby Woodrose, Hendrix and The Pretty Things come to mind briefly. “Cheetah”, “Ride my black balloon” and “I can see the girls grow” are pretty swinging rockers, although Cherry Choke does slow down considerably with “Jezebel” an obviously heartfelt but pretty boring ballad. I would say the hooks could have been a little sharper and more plentiful at times. A few songs give the impression that the band is gliding to the end of a song rather than trying to make the most of the moment. Maybe when they perform at the stage, these songs will get a jamming part. The production is slightly raw as well and that approach tends to bring out the strengths of this release. There's nothing groundbreaking here but that was never the intent. The intent was to deliver a stripped down rock'n'roll record and Cherry Choke does just that and, if you're looking for something more, something of substance, you're better off looking elsewhere. 85/100 Cosmicmasseur. |