Season 2 — Episode 8 — June 15, 2022
ROOKIE
Rob Janicke and I know what you’re thinking — how can an album released in 2020 be an “abandoned album.”
Here’s how:
Let’s say a band, in this case, a Chicago rock band named ROOKIE, has a national tour booked to promote their debut release, and the decision is made to release the album on Friday, March 13, 2020 (cheeky, but you know, hindsight), and that’s two days before the United States goes on complete lock-down because of a pandemic.
And then let’s say that during the pandemic, your legendary record label goes tits-up.
That is one way an album barely two years old can become an abandoned album. The only way I can think of at the moment.
Now, only a band or artist of a certain level is gonna be able to circumvent that kind of shit luck.
And ROOKIE is not a band at that particular level… although they should be.
And if the world corrects itself on its reliance on crap music… ROOKIE will be.
ROOKIE keyboard player Justin Bell and guitarist Chris Devlin dropped by Thunderlove Studios to talk about that self-titled debut album.
So what does ROOKIE sound like?
On the band’s self-titled full-length debut, ROOKIE, you hear a healthy blend of The Band, The Replacements, Cheap Trick, Reconstruction of the Fables era R.E.M., The Allman Brothers, Uncle Tupelo/Wilco/Son Volt — the list is long. In other words, you will hear the best of the best of a specific type of rock-n-roll.
That list is either gonna whet your appetite, or it’s not. And it fires up my salivary glands.
Allow me to paint a picture for you:
Let’s say it’s about two days after you’ve gotten out of school, and you and your friends are meeting at a park to hang out and listen to music. After the core group has assembled, you reach into your pocket and whip out a joint of an excellent Sativa flower (Sour Diesel, perhaps).
After the high-fives are finished, Troy (always Troy) jogs over to his car and pulls out the purple Wham-o Frisbee: and NOT because you’re gonna play Frisbee Football or Frisbee Golf (fuck that shit).
And Kevin (he’s always had the best taste in music) walks back to his car and cues up the music, making sure all the windows are down so you can hear it.
With Troy and Kevin back in line, you fire up the joint just as the crunch of the intro to “Hold On Tight” kicks in. And thus begins the first free summer afternoon for you and your friends.
It could be the summer of 1972…or the summer of 2022.
Just like a good pair of jeans, a solid tee-shirt, and a great pair of sneaks will never go out of fashion, good rock and roll will never go out of style.
You see, ROOKIE is damn good rock and roll. They blend the core elements of classic rock in the same way a Jackson Pollack painting blends colors. It may appear or sound messy, but it is all seamless, deliberate…. and timeless.
And with both ROOKIE and Pollack, there’s a lot of color.
A more simplistic or reductive perspective may think that Pollack’s work was just paint thrown on a canvas. And while not entirely incorrect, Pollack couldn’t have done that without completely understanding everything that came before him.
This can also be said of ROOKIE—a bunch of guys in their early 20s who have an almost encyclopedic knowledge of classic rock.
Fret not, friends. This is not to say that ROOKIE doesn’t have their sound; they do. A band this good can only be this good by, consciously or subconsciously, knowing what came before them.
The shitty bands copy others while the best bands distill that knowledge and have the chops to create something their own.
ROOKIE is firmly lodged in the latter.
The band writes taut, well-crafted songs using only the best ingredients — vocals, bass, drums, guitars, and the Hammond B-3.
On this episode, Justin and Chris share a bunch of stories, two in particular, that deal with their Hammond B-3. In keeping with Abandoned Albums tradition, no spoilers here, but they are both AH-MAZING! (no, really)
There are loads of videos on the internet of ROOKIE, but I’ll point you in one direction first — the video for the album’s single, “I Can’t Have You, But I Want You,” — included at the bottom of this post. The video isn’t a rock and roll cautionary tale; it’s a God-damn celebration!
Suffice it to say; if I had a daughter, I would want her to be like the kid in this video.
There is no reason to re-invent the wheel when it comes to reinvent and roll. And that’s what is so great about ROOKIE; they’re not looking to; they understand there is no need to.
“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”
— Leonardo da Vinci
The guys in ROOKIE may have gotten off to an unfortunate start with the release of that self-titled debut, but they have two things going for them — youth and talent.
Excellent rock music often has three key ingredients:
Youth
Talent
Tenacity
We had a blast talking to Justin and Chris, and knowing they’re out there makes me believe that rock and roll is still alive.
Oh, and if you need proof that ROOKIE is the real deal, they’ll be opening for John Fogerty in July — sooo…yea.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, Troy is bitching about me having my face in the computer, and I gotta get back to tossing the Frisbee.