Review - Fashionably Late

Although all the members of Choke are Central Floridians by way Scotland or New York, their heart is clearly with crunching rock that came out of Seattle in the early '90s. "Fashionably Late" swirls with the sludgy power chords and soaring choruses that helped define alternative rock a decade ago. Album opener "In My Room" sounds eerily like early Soundgarden, with Gary Bishops' gusty vocals soaring in Chris Cornell fashion. On the album's remaining five songs (plus a hidden live cover of "How Soon Is Now?" by The Smiths), Choke loosens its grip a little, relying more on their melody and less on their might. The revved-up pop of "Older" and "Toxic Waste of Time" moves away from the grand gestures of hard rock while still managing to rock hard. Although not every song here achieves liftoff, "Fashionably Late" rocks early and often.