Brandon Butler - Killer on the Road (Gern Blandsten, 2004)

Brandon Butler
Killer on the Road
Gern Blandsten
2004

Rating: 6.5 slim jims out of 10

OK, I’m not ashamed to admit the only reason I grabbed this CD to review is because I wasn’t paying much attention and thought it was a solo record from Bernard Butler of Suede. I should not pay attention more often though, because this record is great. Turns out I should have known who this lad was though – Brandon Butler was the front man for two of the mid-90s emo greats Boy’s Life and The Farewell Bend, and then went on to form Canyon with some of his former band mates. Those Canyon discs are great, and this release falls pretty much under that same sound - a little more rootsy/country if anything else, and sparser in instrumentation (it is a solo record after all). It also doesn’t hurt that the album was produced by Brendan Canty, because the man not only lends instantaneous cred to anything he touches but he does a great job behind the boards (see some of Blonde Redhead’s more recent recorded material for further proof).

Liars - They Threw Us in a Trench an Threw a Monument on Top (Gern Blandsten / Mute, 2001)

Liars
They Threw Us in a Trench an Threw a Monument on Top
Gern Blandsten / Mute
2001

Rating: 8 headstones out of 10

Ladies and gentlemen, this is dance-punk. Liars, fronted by lanky Aussie Angus Andrew, have created a dancy-arty-punky mess that’s a real joy to listen to. I never dance, yet I can somehow imagine shaking it at least a little bit to these guys live. Their sound comes out akin to both early eighties punk geniuses Gang of Four and current indie darlings Les Savy Fav, but, well, dancier. Not dancy in a techno sort of way, but more in the sense where the bass line and drums are the most prominent instruments in the mix, driving the songs and holding them together while everything else goes this way and that way, doing whatever it pleases. When you add all of the constituent parts together it creates one hell of a treat to listen to.