- Release Info -------------------------------------------------------------- -
Artist: Drink Up Buttercup
Album: Born and Thrown on a Hook
Label: Yep Roc
Playtime: 38:11 min
Genre: Indie
URL: http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:jpfqxzqsldte
Rip date: 2010-03-24
Street date: 2010-03-23
Size: 52.77 MB
Type: Normal
Quality: 187 kbps / 4410kHz / Joint Stereo
- Release Notes ------------------------------------------------------------- -
Drink Up Buttercup have built a huge buzz with their energetic live shows and
songwriting that distills the golden pop sounds of England and America
between approximately 1964 and 1975 into a dizzying, heady brew. The
arrangements are uniformly inventive, splicing together bits and pieces of
everything that's been waxed since the mid-'60s with a gleefully scattershot
approach. The melodies are uniformly catchy; the vocals are marked by
harmonies so sweet they could give you diabetes; and James Harvey's lead
vocals are always surprising, full of unexpected starts and stops, one minute
sweet and folky, the next an uncontained shriek of outrageous psychedelic
delight. The same juxtapositions abound in the arrangements. The opening
triad starts with "Seasickness Pills," a stomping blend of garage band noise
and Brit-pop that drops a Gregorian chant-like interlude into its climax,
then moves jarringly into "Animate the Hangtime," a noisy jolt of musique
concrΦte, before concluding with the blissfully sweet "Young Ladies" with
tinkling piano, glockenspiel, and ELO-like synth swells. The band's vocal
harmonies are angelic and the rhythmic feel is half Beatles, half Kinks,
finishing with delirious rippling piano flourishes. Acoustic guitar kicks off
"Doggy Head," a funky stomper that sounds like the Archies singing with a
quieter version of Slade with a bit of reggae in the backbeat. "Who Spilled
the Beaker" is another brief but ominous keyboard interlude that leads to
"Heavy Hand," a raucous bit of New York City-flavored garage psychedelia with
hints of Motown and the 13th Floor Elevators in its big noisy montage. The
band's exuberance, free-flowing creativity, and uncontained performance style
carry over to the album, which is presented with the same ebb and flow as a
live show. There is hardly any silence between tracks, and their penchant for
rhythmic noise and oddball vocals suggests a rock suite as much as a random
collection of songs.
- Track List ---------------------------------------------------------------- -
01. Seasickness Pills ( 4:03)
02. Animate the Hangtime ( 0:56)
03. Young Ladies ( 2:42)
04. Doggy Head ( 2:37)
05. Even Think ( 2:22)
06. Gods and Gentlemen ( 2:44)
07. Lovers Play Dead ( 4:06)
08. Who Spilled the Beaker ( 0:44)
09. Heavy Hand ( 3:38)
10. Pink Sunshine ( 2:32)
11. Vietnam Waltz ( 0:57)
12. Sosey and Dosey ( 3:16)
13. Mr. Pie Eyes ( 2:39)
14. Maestro Monsignor ( 4:55)
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