Chooglin'
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Chooglin'

Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States | INDIE

Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States | INDIE
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"Chooglin' Head Abroud For A Two-Week Tour Of France"

Twin Cities boogie-rock favorites Chooglin’ are about to head overseas again for the Spring thaw. Having traveled across Europe, including some festivals in Norway last year and a trip to the Netherlands, the band were invited back over the pond to do a small two-week tour of France.
It's at a time of much traction for the 7-piece band. For what it's worth comedian Marc Maron, who was just in town doing a gig of his own at the Mall of America this week, started seriously losing his sh*t once he had a minute to pour himself something cold and check out their 2009 record Sweet Time. - City Pages


"Chooglin' Head Abroud For A Two-Week Tour Of France"

Twin Cities boogie-rock favorites Chooglin’ are about to head overseas again for the Spring thaw. Having traveled across Europe, including some festivals in Norway last year and a trip to the Netherlands, the band were invited back over the pond to do a small two-week tour of France.
It's at a time of much traction for the 7-piece band. For what it's worth comedian Marc Maron, who was just in town doing a gig of his own at the Mall of America this week, started seriously losing his sh*t once he had a minute to pour himself something cold and check out their 2009 record Sweet Time. - City Pages


"Sweet Time Review"

Sweet Time is a deke move of an album. When you think it's going to put the pedal down to the floor, it suddenly jumps from balls-out rock to mournful, almost stripped-to-the-chassis balladry -- and then right on back to jams and the kicking out thereof, because this is Chooglin', the band that has essentially defined local revivalist pre-punk rock over the past few years. The horn-heavy band's grown more eclectic since their self-titled 2006 debut, if a bit more restrained: there's still moments that'll threaten to peel your face off like "You Sucked the Life Out of Me" or "So Stupid" did, especially the "Run to the Hills" rumble of "Hal's Haberdashery". But the downtrodden moments -- the Southern Rock elegy "Waltz in D", the Memphis-soul lament "Nothing to Show", the Southwestern Latin oompah of "Tonight, Alright" -- prove that Chooglin's power doesn't always rely on full-blare rock action. That said, don't expect too many moments during their live show that you could easily label "subdued". - City Pages by Nate Patrin


"SWEET TIME REVIEW"

Finally, pick of the pack this month has to be the excellent new release from Minneapolis’s Chooglin’. Released by Big Legal Mess with distribution by Fat Possum, and recorded at the legendary Creation Studios from whence emerged timeless classics by Husker Du and The Replacements, as well as The Trashmen’s “Surfer Bird”, “Sweet Time” is a glorious R&B flavoured racket that carries much the same spirit. The original four piece led by guitarists/singers Brian Vanderwerf and Jesse Tomlinson (formerly of the Midnight Evils) is extended to include keyboards and no fewer than four horn players, giving their riotous and irreverent sound new depth and breadth and a scale of references from the MC5 to James Brown. It’s a massive beast of a record that stomps, whimpers and roars, that in other hands might degenerate into white noise but which here works against the odds to produce an enduring classic. - LEICESTER BANGS—UK By Neil B


"Musical Antioxidant by Johnny Andreassen 5 of 6 (record review)"

The term "too hot to handle" can not be used for many of today's new bands, but from Minneapolis comes Chooglin' as a raging fire. The rock and roots music has an antioxidant it must be the eight members in Chooglin '. The band is unleashed on the Down On The Farm festival today and tomorrow. God mend me! The story of the band, which counts a horn section with three trombones and a trumpet in addition to the usual rock and roll instrumentation, formed in 2005.

With a background in punk rock, a strong dissatisfaction with the music of today's young bands in the U.S. supply, and a growing affection for R & B, blues and soul music's forgotten treasure trove, Chooglin' whips together a mix that is both untamed and alive.


Mixing genres

You've probably heard a band similar to Chooglin' before, and you'll know the elements if you've visited the dark rock basements and heard punk nerve mix with the roots music and rockabilly energy.

If you are a Puritan preacher and do not like the mixing of genres, you can just forget to listen to this debut. It is as if you come to a snack bar where they have tumbled together ketchup, mustard and a little tabasco on the bottle and put it on disk. Much of the energy, nerve and quick heat in the band comes from the punk. Likewise brass section that sounds like a mix of New Orleans street parades and the quirky punk rock bands that experimented with trumpets and blowers.


Original and loose

On the opening song "Take Your Sweet Time" songs this, plus blue nerve, to uncompromising The Black Keys, as well as our own Gluecifer wide-legged rock. Kristoffer Schau and other uncompromising rockers in Oslo's underground has been into the Legendary Shack Shakers who are live favorites the last few years, I can not think of the reactions Chooglin' will receive if they manage to convey the energy from the disk to the scene. Shack Shakers is the closest I can get as a comparison of Chooglin'. But Chooglin' has a substantially larger than the repetorire than the Shack Shakers. Already the second song, "Waltz In D", you are greeted by a procession from a funeral ceremony in New Orleans by Tom Waits as a conductor and Joe Henry as deputy commander. "Sweet Time" one of the most fun, most original and loose records for years and years. - ABC NYHETER---NORWAY


"Troublemakers ready for the Down On The Farm Festival"



It is always fun when bands take new turns and stretches genres. Chooglin' from Minneapolis is such a band. They have decided it is quite alright to use horns in punk just as well as in soul music - and just do it. Do both, I mean.

It sounds different and extremely tough. The band is named after Creedence-tune "Keep On Chooglin'". There are many definitions of the quite funny word, here are some suggestions if you're not familiar with slang: "Right on", "get down to it", "go with the flow" and "having a hell of a party". And rumors are, that is eaxactly what Chooglin' is like on stage. The live album "Nice Place, Nice Party, Nice Folks" provides an indication. It is raw. The band themselves claim you can multiply the record by ten. Visit the Down On The Farm festival in Halden on Friday and Saturday, and you can check out this band of eight. They come from the musical city that has fostered groups like Hüsker Dü, Replacements, Soul Asylum and the Jayhawks. There are traces of the first two groups in the music, but Jesse Tomlinson plays guitar the Mississippi way, with a twist of Fogerty. Therefore it is not surprising that after recording one studio album and one live album locally, the band is now picked up by delta blues label Fat Possum.

Claiming this band "really rocks" is an undertatement. If you ever wandered what happens when you pair up MC5 and Blood, Sweat & Tears? The child's name can be Chooglin'. - DAGBLADET---NORWAY by Oyvind Ronning


"Sweet Time Review"

by Jonathan Takiff

The group called Chooglin' borrows its name from a Creedence Clearwater Revival lyric. But on the band's "Sweet Time" album (Big Legal Mess, B), the guys sound more like the Electric Flag, another breakout band of the late '60s that gave an especially big leg up to Buddy Miles and Mike Bloomfield. Think a mash of soul-revue horns, piercing Chicago-style electric blues guitar and gruff, West Coast distorted rock vocalizing, with just a tad of that swampadelic CCR thing thrown in, too. - PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS


"BEST ALBUM OF THE PAST 12 MONTHS"



The group's handle, taken from a Creedence Clearwater Revival song title meaning "to ball and have a good time," appeared on the album's cover in that goofy font made famous by the band Chicago. In other words, Chooglin' announced no need to be taken seriously, and a growing audience obliged them. Yet the presence of two former members of the sublime Midnight Evils—guitarist/singer Brian Vanderwerf and drummer Jesse Tomlinson (now playing Telecaster)—should have been a tip-off. With an in-house brass section called "the Horns of Eleganza," Chooglin' bring "Take Mine Down" to unanticipated heights. Their rave-up R&B punk is the kind of huge and natural sound that few have bothered trying to re-create since Rocket from the Crypt. The rest of Chooglin' is just as addictive and unstoppable—a bender that's too good to park in rehab. - City Pages


""In Da Club: Chooglin' at the Triple Rock"

The word "Chooglin'" sounds like an onomatopoeia for beer guzzling or trains chugging. It's actually a Creedence Clearwater Revival term for partying and fornicating, as laid out in the classic, "Keep on Chooglin'"--"You got to ball and have a good time/And that's what I call chooglin'." What's also called Chooglin' is a new local band that debuted last Friday night at the Triple Rock. The CCR reference was probably lost on the majority of the twenty-to-thirtysomethings at the show, but judging by how quickly and early the bar filled up, many did know that the opening band featured two former members of the now defunct Midnight Evils, guitarist/singer Brian Vanderwerf and drummer Jesse Tomlinson, who now plays a Telecaster and occasionally flips off assholes in the crowd. Chooglin' the band is a good time, emphasis on beer and a classic rock sound; their standout, Shawn Walker, also drummer for the Fuck Yeahs, channels Keith Moon through his manic drum fills. The crowd thinned for the middle act, Reigning Sound, and gathered again for the headliners, R&B-garage-rock cover band the Detroit Cobras. But either due to the band's more sedate take on rock or because the crowd was all choogled out, the stage never did regain the evening's earlier verve." - City Pages


"CHOOGLE X 2"

If you're looking for a condensed history of "choogle," head over to TCBlog. In the meantime, Minneapolis quartet Chooglin', who rocked Beerland shortly before South by Southwest, take the name seriously on their latest self-titled.

Armed with a Creedence-coined moniker and a logo nicked from Chicago (might wanna lawyer up on that count, boys), Chooglin' blasts far beyond whatever notions those two weapons might confer. The fourpiece utilizes garage-borne punk fury to remind us of the ass-shaking salvation once offered by the boogie-down guitar rock of the Seventies before it got all bloated on deli trays and cocaine.

Ex-Midnight Evils Jesse Tomlinson and Brian Vanderwerf conjure up double-barreled guitar pyrotechnics while drummer Shawn Walker splays himself every which way at a hundred miles an hour without losing time. Opener "So Stupid" spins itself into a frenzy approximating a speed-of-sound collision between Muddy Waters, Foghat, and the Streetwalkin' Cheetahs. Breakneck soul workout "Do It to It" and a well-placed cover of Roy Head's "Treat Her Right" garner extra oomph from the Horns of Eleganza's barroom brass. Theirs is the sound of workaday shackles rapidly evaporating into a rank steam of spilled beer and hormones.

Greg Beets, Wed Apr 18, 2007 - AUSTIN CHRONICLE


"5 out of 5 ALBUM REVIEW"

Chooglin : S/T CD

Ex-members of Midnight Evils go boogie rock? Well, sorta, Chooglin got their name off a Creedence Clearwater Revival record, but comes across as a righteous mix of Skynyrd-esque southern rawk, Stax soul/r&b (yup, there's a horn section) and a bit of Swingin Neckbreakers/Supersuckers in the more rowdy cuts. Amazing stuff! This is basically what American rock'n'roll is about, and SHOULD be about; freewheeling hardrocking soulful and kickass r'n'r, rooted in the 70s but more vital than most new acts around today, and you can take that to the bank! There's not a weak track in sight, all killer no filler, pretty damn impressive for a debut album. - LOWCUT MAGAZINE


"ALBUM REVIEW"

Chooglin' - Chooglin' (Self-Released)
Grade: B+
"Hello, welcome to McRockalds, may I take your order please?"

"Yes, what can you tell me about the Chooglin' special?"

"The Chooglin' is the Minneapolis special. Horns, riffs, and some good ole' fashioned screamin' covered in thick, heavy rock sauce."

"Ooooo, that sounds delicious. I'll take it."

"Damn straight you will." - SLIVER MAGAZINE


"BEST MUSIC OF 2006"

Chooglin’, Chooglin’ (self-released): Ex-Midnight Evils Brian Vanderwerf and Jesse Tomlinson needed a name for their new project, so they plucked one out of a Creedence Clearwater Revival song title meaning “wild partying.” It’s perfect: Chooglin’ is who they are and what they do, throwing down monster rock riffs and barreling ahead like a speeding locomotive. Is that train moving way too fast? Did we just pass a sign saying “DANGER: BRIDGE OUT”? Chooglin’ ain’t no tea party, baby. - THE ONION


"SLEAZE REVIEWS"

The fact that Chooglin' are from Minneapolis may explain why their high-flying, brass-accented rave-ups like You Got Me Howling and This Demon Life sound so much like pre-fame Soul Asylum with their tits on fire.
7 of 10 bars. - CLASSIC ROCK MAGAZINE--UK


"CHOOGLIN' SATURDAY"

Minneapolis rock and rollers Chooglin' return to Fargo this Saturday. Two of the members of Chooglin' used to be in the Midnight Evils who frequented Ralph's Corner back in the day. Chooglin' (their name taken from a CCR song), are less a punk/metal hybrid than the Evils and more straight up rock and roll, say more ZZ Top than AC/DC. But its still done at a high octane, full throttle, balls to the wall pace. Jesse Tomlinson moved from the drums to the guitar and for good reason, his lead solos dot every song and his skills are a definite highlight of their sound, giving it both soul and grit. The band has recieved much attention in the Twin Cities in its short existence. They are frequently played on the Current (recently playing their listener appreciation party), were named one of the best Twin Cities bands of 2006 by First Avenue, City Pages, and their album dotted many a top 10 of the year lists by local media. Their very first gig was opening for the Detroit Cobras and the Reigning Sound and by all accounts, Chooglin' blew their much more well established counterparts away. While the band has captured some of their trademark sound on their recently released self titled debut album, live is where the band shines. You truly don't appreciate the Chooglin' experience until you see it in the flesh. The band last played Fargo in September and returns with the new CD in tow having recently completed a tour that took them from Chicago, IL to Austin, TX. Next weekend, they will headline the Turf Club's festivities on St. Patty's Day in St. Paul. This weekend, Chooglin' warms up by returning to the Aquarium. If you like it raw, loud and fast, then you won't be dissapointed. Chooglin' play Saturday - THE AREA SCENE--FARGO


"CHAMPIONING CHOOGLIN'"

For a band that's barely a year old, Chooglin' sure has gotten a lot of choice opening gigs. The very first show was with the Detroit Cobras, and since then they've played before Soul Asylum, the Dirtbombs, Heartless Bastards and the first Little Steven's Underground Garage Tour.

Chooglin's anti-formulaic formula is indeed a rarity among local buzz acts.

A horn-backed garage-rock septet, the band: a) grew out of the demise of the rowdy punk group the Midnight Evils; b) was inspired by the members' short-lived "Exile on Main Street" cover band, Eleganza; c) took its name from a bawdy Credence Clearwater Revival song about partying and d) boasts a grimy two-guitar sound, rhythmic oomph and sheer volume that Johnny Thunders, Bon Scott and Keith Moon might all nod in agreement over from the grave.

The band's first CD reflects that easy, freewheeling mood with its loose, low-frills sound. Produced by punk studio specialist Dave Gardner (Die Electric!, ex-Selby Tiger), the disc kicks off with a firestorm of guitar licks and howlin' snideness in "So Stupid," and basically never lets up. The horns come in a-blaring on "Take Mine Down" and make the biggest impression in the nugget cover "Treat Her Right," a mid-'60s garage-rock hit by Texan Roy Head.

Chirs Reimenschneider - MPLS STAR TRIBUNE


"PICKED TO CLICK 2007"

Bad Moon Rising
CHOOGLIN' BRING HORNS AND HOT LICKS
TO THE MIDNIGHT EVILS' AFTERPARTY

By Chuck Terhark

To choogle, or not to choogle?

That was the question facing Brian Vanderwerf in late 2005 when the fickle rock 'n' roll sun set on his band, the Midnight Evils. A bawdy bunch of eighth-note junkies with a live show so raucous they were twice voted "Best Rock Band" in these pages, the Evils were an antidote to the gently weeping guitars and foreplay-as-lyrics ethos of the early millennium. (Seriously, "Your Body Is a Wonderland?" Come on.) Vanderwerf's take on '70s-era guitar rawk, while certainly nothing new, felt fresh, for no other reason than because it cut the sweet talk and got right down to the drinking and fucking.

Which, of course, is what "chooglin'" is all about. To quote John Fogerty on the 1969 Creedence Clearwater Revival track "Keep on Chooglin'": "You got to ball and have a good time/And that's what I call chooglin'." Vanderwerf cites Jerry Lee Lewis as the prototypical choogler, and describes it variously as "doin' it to the death" and "keepin' on keepin' on." That's what the Midnight Evils had been doing through three albums over five solid years. Then midnight struck, their evil rock dream turned back into a pumpkin, and—to extend the cliché—Vanderwerf was left holding the glass slipper. Or maybe it was a Les Paul. Whatever. Point is, the ending is a happy one: Vanderwerf kept on chooglin'.

So much so that he even named his new band after the Fogerty principle, though it wasn't a decision he put much thought into. "I don't even really like it," he admits when City Pages catches up to him via cell phone. "It's just so hard to find a good band name. I had to come up with one quick, because I got us booked at the Triple Rock for our first show, opening for the Detroit Cobras. And they were like, 'You're gonna lose your spot unless you tell us what your band's name is.' I think the song was playing in the background at the time, so I just said, 'Okay, Chooglin'."

That moment proved to be synchronicity at its finest; not only did Chooglin' make their debut at the Detroit Cobras show (where they began their ascent of this poll by stirring the crowd into an ass-shaking frenzy), but they also stumbled onto a name that fits them like a tight pair of Levi's. Sure, it's a little goofy, and most people can't stand it (those people should try repeating it a few times in their heads, like a Zen mantra—it's guaranteed rock 'n' roll affirmation). But what better way to describe this band, with its endless guitar solos, bang-a-gong drumming (courtesy of Shawn Walker, one of the raddest drummers in town), and Larry-the-Cable-Guy lyrics (as in the single "Do It to It"), than to use the vocabulary of Southern swamp rock? (A Deep Purple reference, maybe. But there's already a band called Machine Head.)

Midnight Evils fans cheered the arrival of Chooglin' with hopes that Vanderwerf would continue the good work he began with the Evils. They were doubly thrilled to see he had Evils drummer Jesse Tomlinson in tow, now showing off his considerable guitar chops while allowing Walker to take over the kit with his best Keith Moon impression. If the resultant groove didn't convince those fans that Chooglin' wasn't just another version of the Midnight Evils, the horn section certainly did. The brass section's roots are in a 12-person ensemble called Eleganza, which Vanderwerf formed for the annual First Avenue Cover Band Contest. (They won the contest with their set from the Rolling Stones' Exile on Main Street, Vanderwerf's favorite record). Vanderwerf was so pleased with the sound that he invited "the Horns of Eleganza" to help Chooglin' record their first album, which he plans to release in November.

Vanderwerf is recounting all this while driving around downtown Minneapolis, running an unfortunate errand that further illuminates the choogler's lifestyle: He's looking for his guitar. The night before, Chooglin' opened for British psych-pop legends the Zombies at the Fine Line Music Café. Rolling Rock beer sponsored the tour, and true to their name, Chooglin' made the most of the corporate sponsorship by drinking the backstage cooler dry. When Vanderwerf woke up the next morning, his Les Paul was missing.

"I was pretty drunk," he admits. "I hope I just forgot it at the club." That's exactly where he would eventually find it, but not before sweating a bit at the thought of losing a thousand-dollar guitar. For all its glamour, chooglin', it turns out, ain't easy. - CITY PAGES


Discography

Sweet Time---Big Legal Mess/Fat Possum Records (2009)
Nice Place, Nice Party, Nice Folks---Heart Of A Champion (2009)
Self Titled (Self Released) 2006

Forthcoming...
Split 7" with Alabama Band The Dexateens---Heart Of A Champion (early 2011)
Live @ The Triple Rock Social Club---Stand Up! Records

Photos

Bio

Chooglin', a 7 Piece band featuring 2 members from Estrus Records' band, The Midnight Evils, and drummer, Shawn Walker from Gay Witch Abortion. (The Evils recorded 2 albums at Austin's Sweatbox and a John Peel Session for the BBC in 2004 before disbanding.)

They are undoubtedly one of the best live bands playing rock and roll today!

Chooglin' has toured a bunch in the US and Europe and has supported such notable acts such as The Reigning Sound, King Khan & BBQ, The Dirtbombs, The Black Lips, Jay Reatard, The Black Diamond Heavies, The Buffalo Killers, Bob Log III, and The Birthday Suits.

They have 3 records out including Sweet Time on Big Legal Mess/Fat Possum Records produced by Fat Possum's Bruce Watson and Tom Herbers---who has made records with Low, The Jayhawks and Grant Hart just to name a few.

Forthcoming is a Live record on the comedy label, Stand Up! Records, a split 7" with Alabama band The Dexateens a and a new studio record being produced by The Dexateens' Elliott McPherson in Oct '11.

BOOSH!

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