JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound: Friday Night @ El Corazon

Baltimore's the new Brooklyn? Who knew? Did you know that Renton is the new Fife, which was the new Stockton? Crazy, I know. We here at AST are keeping an eye on Yakima, which was once coined "The Palm Springs of WA", but now still remains a shithole.

Chicago is still the Second City producing acts like Curtis Mayfield, The Staple Singers, and Wilco (OK, I mean Uncle Tupelo...). And although NYC has produced some of the best crop of new soul during the past decade in the form of Sharon Jones, Charles Bradley, and Lee Fields (holy Colt 45! get the new one!), Chicago's got JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound.

Most people, including myself, heard their recent version of Wilco's "I Am Trying To Break My Heart" and thought, "umm... intriguing". Some have said this about the band and their new LP, Want More;  

JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound’s first album for Bloodshot, the charismatic Brooks erupts with raw emotion, harnessing the Uptown Sound’s post-punk reimagining of JB’s moves and MG’s grooves to unleash pure and uncompromising soul music ranging from sweaty on-the-one workouts ("I Can See Everything"), dance-punk booty shakers (the title track "Want More"), garage rock thump humps ("Baaadnews"), and aching R&B ballads ("To Love Someone (Who Don’t Love You)") without a missed step in between. JCBUS are not just another throwback group; they came to be during an age of war, envisioning an aggressive dance music with lyrics that dig deeper and hit harder than the usual "baby, baby" fare.

The Seattle date is this Friday, March 30th. Check 'em.

And here's some audio from a JCBUS concert featured on the NPR Music site.