It’s taken about four decades, but someone in Chicago finally opened up the time capsule that’s been housing the six-piece shaggy-haired band Rookie. And once they finally aired out from forty years of stale Schlitz beer farts and Winston smoke, they started work on their debut, a dozen mostly great tracks slathered in classic guitar rock and power pop.
Aptly enough, the band found a home at Bloodshot Records, the Chicago-based label that’s home to a wildly eclectic collection of brilliant but hard to categorize bands that the span the spectrum from punk to Americana. And Rookie fits in nicely, grabbing influences from AM rock radio, stoner cowboys from the ‘70s, Southern rockers, and mixing it all with big fat hooks and harmonies reminiscent of Big Star and Cheap Trick. The formula, for the most part, works and works well.
The album starts out strong with “Hold On Tight,” a fantastic singalong built around power chords that would make the boys in Free and 38 Special jealous. A soon-to-be encore number for the band in years to come. Elsewhere “Sunglasses” is a damn fine Cosmic Country jam that stays with you long after the song has stopped playing. The same for “One Way Ticket,” a confident straight up rock number with an addictive chorus that’s hard to shake. And the guitar solos spread throughout serve to remind you just how much stellar guitar solo has been missing from modern music. The band boasts three guitars and, far from being gimmicky, they weave those riffs deftly between the singalong choruses and a rock solid rhythm section.
That’s not to say all is groovy on this self-titled LP. There are a few moments that drag the album down, like “Elementary Blues,” one of the rare slowed down numbers on the record. Everything just seems a little off, from the sparse acoustic guitars to the thin vocals. “Let’s Get it Right,” though played with plugged in guitars this time, makes some of the same mistakes.
Thankfully, those tracks are the rare exception to an otherwise extraordinary record. They may look goofy as hell in their matching jumpsuits and unkempt hair, but there is an excitement and charm to their music that’s hard to deny.
Photo by Alec Basse
