Thursday, July 22, 2010

Endless Boogie: Full House Head [2010]

I love this band. After spending most of last summer obsessed with their last full-length, Focus Level, I am happy to report that Endless Boogie have returned with no changes or modifications to their approach, which is basically bulletproof groove rock. On their Myspace page, they call themselves "Blues / Rock / Psychedelic", and while these are somewhat descriptive, their true genre, if you need to put a label on it, is chooglin'. The term, which I suppose is onomatopoetic, comes from one of the preeminent chooglin' bands, Creedence Clearwater Revival, who have a self-explanatory track called "Keep On Chooglin'" on their 1969 platter Bayou Country. So what is chooglin'? To choogle is to take basic, simple blues-based chord changes, simmer until you have reached a low boil, and proceed to cook the hell out of the song. There may be some soloing, but no self-indulgent wankarama, no spotlights, no histrionics—just purified hot smoking rhythm. Endless Boogie are masters of the choogle, and pledge allegiance to the almighty boogie. They have a singer (who goes by the nom de choogle Top Dollar), but he mostly growls like a Captain Beefheart trapped and enslaved by ZZ Top, and with song titles like "Mighty Fine Pie" and "New Pair Of Shoes", it's clear that they value form over content. Play loud, and preferably in the car on a highway, and choogle your way to transcendence.

Endless Boogie, "Empty Eye":

1 comment:

  1. thank you for this. if jim morrison had lived to release one more album with the doors, i imagine his vocals would have sounded like this.

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