Yorktown: Press

Yorktown - The Battle for Yorktown (Yorktownsoul.com)

With the impact of early Blood, Sweat & Tears (the Al Cooper version), Chicago (back to their first infectious album when they were known as Chicago Transit Authority), and James Brown’s Fabulous Flames as a template, Yorktown’s brilliant stylistic cross-fertilization deftly demonstrates their grasp of forms, production techniques, their ability to transform and transcend.

The playfully tight opening instrumental “Jersey Bound” (Yorktown are a Central Jersey horn-based rock band, is an un-hung-up, vibing-out, maximum mojo, funk/soul number! Like the rest of the album, it’s like they’ve joined rock and soul at either end, creating an endless loop of the soul/rock spectrum.

Without sounding like a tired string of clichés or succumbing to corporate overkill, Yorktown is straightforward, with ingenious ingenuity. The other instruments that are sprinkled around like “Charlie Don’t Surf,” and “Sockdollager,” act as springboards for the lyrically passionate numbers, as the vocals are shared by guitarist James York, and Tracy Sousa.

Despite all the genre-bending ,Yorktown is not straining for approval with a touch-all-the-bases mentality. You get a rootsy, organic sense of multiple genres, instead of let’s-knock-it-out-of -the park, overproduced (the battle for Yorktown was recorded at Frankensound in North Brunswick, and Gasworks studio in East Brunswick), muzak.

This is an album full of searing guitars, muscular bass, no-nonsense drums, and male/female vocals that relate stories of celebrations of life’s warning/wonderings, which all mesh into an inviting dance groove rhythm.

• I have just three words for Yorktown's performance... "ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE PERFORMANCE." I will deffinitely hire Yorktown for my next event. Thank you Yorktown, for a five star perfomance! -- Victor B, Upper Deerfield, NJ.

• This band can jam! We booked them to play for our wedding and, in retrospect, it was the single best decision we made in planning the event. The band was prompt, curteous and professional, and that was before they even picked up their instruments. When they started to rock out, lets just say they took our party to the next level. All I heard from guest after guest was, "where did you get this band?!" That is, when they weren't busy getting down on the dance floor. I will heartily recommend Yorktown to anyone who wants a kickin' party. -- Logan P, Wilm, DE.

• We booked the group for 4 hours of music. They were terrific, taking our requests but drawing on a solid repertoire of classic soul and R&B. They made the party move! Very professional and very fun. Highly recommended. -- Matthew G, Philadelphia, PA.