All aboard the Groovatron. Or, at least that’s what this six-man Chicago-based band is hoping for with the release of their third album. Already acclaimed by Relix Magazine as “an exceptionally fine 21st century band,” Groovatron has shared the stage with the likes of Keller Williams, moe., and members of The Grateful Dead, but Don’t Mind If I Do might actually stop that train dead in it’s tracks. Packed with shades of jazz, jam, reggae, blues and rock, Don’t Mind If I Do lacks an identity, and the fusion of sounds is lost in an attempt to cover too much innovative ground.
Each track is its own fragment, and without a focus, the album inevitably falls apart. The opener, “Hazy Halo,” is a melodic version of a bad dream; part saxophone, part reggae and part a cappella. Move from the rock riffs in “Sic Duck” to the country-inspired “Dixie Blue” and you end up lost in a complete sea of confusion, winding up at the final track, “Helplessness,” a light bluegrass tune that just doesn’t hold up as an album closer. Thankfully there are a few polished tracks along the way, most notably “Waffle House,” a solid and moody jam about “that time of morning.”
There’s no doubt Groovatron’s got groove, plus what it takes to exist in the musical landscape that is the year 2004, but the band has fallen victim to that novice pitfall - trying too hard to be all things to all people.
See groovatron.com for more info.
