Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Butch Walker - The Orange Peel 3/24/09

Of all the music I listen to, I think I probably catch more shit for my love of Butch Walker than anyone else on my favorite’s playlist. Seriously, some of my guilty pleasures (mix coming soon) include Mariah Carey and Sugarland but for some reason BW is the albatross I cannot shake.

So far my biggest defense of BW has been that his live shows are amazing, and I stand by that. By dragging a handful of naysayers I have been able to convince a couple about his live shows, but they still scoff at the man and his music. I will admit that I am not the biggest fan of Butch’s first band to make waves in Atlanta, the metal-lite Floyds Funk Revival, but by the time he reemerged with Marvelous 3 he was starting to fire on all cylinders. Granted the 3 were probably a little ahead of their time, grunge and other fake indie shit rock (hello, Cranberries) of the like were still flooding the airwaves, but the 3’s glammed out simple three chord mockups and soaring choruses were like manna to those of us who grew up loving The Knack, Billy Squier, Sweet and April Wine.

Even after the demise of Marvelous 3, Walker’s work as a solo artist and producer still brought the goods for everyone that loved the sonic crunch of metal, but longed for the pop hooks of Cheap Trick. Maybe I am just a sucker for cheese, or maybe it is because we are from the same place geographically, or maybe it is because we are the same age and were probably influenced by the same bands, but for whatever its worth I think he is the goods (even after his turn on the nightmarish Rock Star: Supernova).

I have included a generous handful of tracks from M3, and some solo work. Also, toward the end I have added a handful of songs Butch produced that all have his signature sound. If there is anyone out there that can make Pink listenable, it has to be this guy.

Butch’s tour to support his latest disc Sycamore Meadows stops by The Orange Peel on 3/24 and tix are $14. As I stated above, his lives shows are awesome, even if you don’t necessarily dig his recorded output.

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