Review: Brandon Butler - Lucky Thumbs (or) crying in my ice cold beer

Posted on 11 April 2007 | No Comments

Filed Under: Album Reviews, Americana, Folk

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It is April in Chicago and it shouldn’t still be this cold. Mother nature (however) can do as she pleases so I’ll just have to lean on the new Brandon Butler album Lucky Thumbs for a little support. For those unfamiliar with Butler’s musical pedigree, he fronted the excellent (but often overlooked) Kansas City emocore band Boys Life (see yesterday’s emo post for an example) in the mid-90’s and then more recently played the excellent band Canyon, which featured a more subdued alt-country sound. Either way, Butler’s latest (and second solo album) is full of rootsy rock that just sorta sounds perfect on this bleak and gray Midwestern day.

On Lucky Thumbs Butler’s vocals remind me a little of Tom Petty. His voice is sounds raw and weather-beaten and has just a slight country twang that sounds a natural fit for the music. He is (as on past recordings) joined by cellist Amy Domingues and Fugazi’s Brendan Canty on drums. The end result is something that sounds warmer and fuller than most singer/songwriter stuff. It is a little more traditional rock and country-folk but also retains (at times) a little of the atmospheric feel of his Canyon material. By day Butler is a carpenter and on the nights he isn’t playing music he works as a bartender. Somehow the tunes on Lucky Thumbs reflect that and fall somewhere between Neil Young and Lucero. The record is out now on Gypsy Eyes Records.

MP3 | Brandon Butler – Sparks Lucky Thumbs
MP3 | Brandon Butler – Heaven Help Us Lucky Thumbs