January, 2012 CD of the Month

There’s a new sound in Chicago and it comes in the form of XPN Artist To Watch JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound. Taking their name from Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood, this four piece band goes beyond your typical soul revivalists. Following in the footsteps of standouts like Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings or Austin’s Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears, Brooks and company cook up their own brand of soul stew. On their second album Want More you’ll hear a band that can produce some pure soul, add a dash of funk, rock with a punk-like attitude and even sweeten the mix with a little R&B.

On his new album Justin Townes Earle aims to prove a few things, including the fact that it’s ok if the title of your album is longer than the actual runtime of the record. Alright, joke’s aside Nothing’s Gonna Change the Way You Feel About Me Now may be one of the more verbose album title’s we’ve seen in quite a while, but that hardly reflects the concise nature of the songs it headlines. Ten songs clocking in just over thirty minutes, Nothing’s Gonna Change… is one of Justin’s finest works to date harnessing his strength as a captivating storyteller.

There’s a new sound in Chicago and it comes in the form of XPN Artist To Watch JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound. Taking their name from Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood, this four piece band goes beyond your typical soul revivalists. Following in the footsteps of standouts like Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings or Austin’s Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears, Brooks and company cook up their own brand of soul stew. On their second album Want More you’ll hear a band that can produce some pure soul, add a dash of funk, rock with a punk-like attitude and even sweeten the mix with a little R&B.