SCRATCHING THE SURFACE

The debut album by this (not-yet-experimental) Blues Rock band, I would say broadly, released in 1968, the Groundhogs are of the same ilk of early Jethro Tull or even Led Zeppelin. To give a general overview: boring to decent Blues is infused with Rock with varying results...

"Rocking Chair" is certainly a fine forward-driving Blues Rock song [In retrospect, the highlight, if I can call it that]. Certainly very of the time. "Early in the Morning" offers quite a different vibe. More stripped down Blues with a solid, clean guitar riff matched with harmonica and a very straight-forward rhythm section at first. Some of the vocal harmonies are pretty nice, but the song overall offers little. "Waking Blues" feels a bit like early Rock 'n' Roll. Pretty decent guitar performances here.

Back to the straight backbeat of the heavy kick drum on "Married Men", the simple Blues vocalizations and guitar riffs are... just that. Simple. I don't care for it. These are some tired moves, I'm sure even at this point. Popular then or not. "No More Doggin'" features more harmonica, and all this is is basic, boring old Blues to my ears. Not sayin' the album is getting worse as it goes, but... to this point it certainly was.

Getting plenty of ear fatigue from this, but really that's just the boredom setting in. "Man Trouble" has a pretty solid backbeat. Some decent ideas, if anything. Over it, though. "Come Back Baby" is taking us back and... I'm just like... The British really loved this sh*t, huh? Moving on, "You Don't Love Me" has some decent vocals... But this is just the same ol'. "Still A Fool" is one of the better songs, at least on paper. Sort of the vibe that Led Zep were trying to exploit a bit at this time. But it's like... boring Zep.

That's it. Moving on.

True Rate: < 2/5