AMG Review of Soul Sizzling 7" Meltdown

All Music Guide

Celebrating 20 years in the garage rocking trenches, the Woggles' career-spanning singles compilation Soul Sizzling 7" Meltdown is by no means comprehensive -- these 15 songs are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to tracks this Athens-based outfit has released on 45 -- but it's unapologetic fun. Consisting almost entirely of covers from sources as varied as British Invasion stalwarts the Dave Clark Five ("Concentration Baby"), Atlanta retro-rockers the Subsonics (the pro-domestic violence "I Used to Be a Lover, But Now I'm a Fighter"), California boogie rockers Spirit ("I Got a Line on You"), and Stax legends Sam & Dave ("Soul Sister, Brown Sugar"), and that's just covering the bands more than a couple dozen record collectors have heard of. The songs range from authentically reverb-heavy surf guitar instrumentals to R&B rave-ups to snotty proto-punk rockers, and the band is equally talented at mimicking each of those styles. But as is always the case with the Woggles, it's hard to get away from the idea that these guys are indeed little more than talented mimics of a musical style (Nuggets, Rovi