The guys in the
Box Social aren't exactly breaking their necks to create a new strand of rock & roll they're happy to sing slightly snide lyrics to Replacements-y power-chords and a workman-like rhythm section. This year's
Get Going was recorded at Rax Trax in Chicago, and the band's making-the-record documentary on their MySpace page (
www.myspace.com/theboxsocialrocks) shows exactly how boring and soul-sucking the process can be. Luckily the music retains the kind of aw-shucks charm and feel-good melodic bursts that make Midwestern kids want to pick up a Telecaster in the first place. The six local gents in the
Deserters aren't exactly Midwestern kids anymore, but their catch-all sound emits the same kind of joy, albeit in a slightly darker shade. Vocalists fall over each other to harmonize, twin guitars take turns strumming and soloing, and a warbly Farfisa organ lays down a harmonic drone that glues the whole thing together.