The second album by Sabrina Weeks and Swing Cat Bounce isn’t music for introspection or deep thoughts. It’s not music to relax to: It’s sassy dance music, seemingly yanked from the smoke of yesteryear, to get in your face and boogie down with.
Got My Eye On You is playful and naughty swing blues/ boogie music. The kind that a kid in the ‘50s would hear while hiding at the top of the stairs at night spying on his parents’ martini and scotch fueled hi-fi house party.
Maybe he or she had a microphone and reel-to-reel. There’s good times and levity in abundance here.
So it’s a party record hosted by vocalist Weeks and her quartet, Swing Cat Bounce. The party ain’t sloppy, though. The sound is crisp, courtesy of producer Jack Lavin (Powder Blues Band), and the songs are punchy. The award-winning group display the benefits of touring and heavy gigging – they’re confident and assured.
The title track has a late- night, slick drive that rollicks on without let up. Weeks’ vocal sound is an uptown hybrid of big band swing and cabaret material as well as jump blues.
Forgive Me is a standout track with an inspiration rooted in late-‘50s break up/make up laments. Its classic chord pattern highlights Week’s emotion-driven delivery being anchored by a wailing guitar hook from Mike Hilliard, a player of friendly precision.
There aren’t many moody moments on Got My Eye On You, but This Lady Sings the Blues brings a cosmopolitan darkness to the revelry. Weeks’ thick-toned voice has an appealing catch to it and mirrors the muted trumpet to cool effect.
But there’s no lag time: Moving Forward explores a horn-heavy Muscles Shoals mid-‘60s feel that deepens the album’s mood and highlights the group’s versatility.
Weeks and Swing Cat Bounce turn up the volume on their brash boogie-woogie and effectively bottle their energy, but explore some other colours of blue also.
Sabrina Weeks and Swing Cat Bounce return to the Army Navy Air Force Hangar, 2500-46th Ave. in Vernon, to celebrate the release of Got My Eye On You, Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Doors open at 7 p.m. Tickets are $15 in advance at the Bean Scene and $20 at the door. CDs will be on sale and available at the performance.
— Dean Gordon-Smith is a Vernon musician and freelance columnist who reviews music for The Morning Star.
