DRUNKEN BUTTERFLY (EP) Year: 2010
Label: None
Tracks: 7
Length: 27 Minutes
Style: Political
My Rating: 6/8
It was about 2 years ago when I first discovered Drunken Butterfly via the information super-highway (internet). They are heavily influenced by the girl-punk bands of the '90s like Bikini Kill, the Gits, Sonic Youth, Babes in Toyland, etc., and their lyrics describe their feminist anarchist views. When they first started out they had a more hardcore-oriented sound (at least from what I remember), but now with their first release their sound has matured more and there's a lot more emphasis on acoustic instruments and only a few angry songs. And they're named after one of the best Sonic Youth songs, so that's a plus also (probably what compelled me to listen to the band in the first place, other than it being during a time when anything labeled as "grunge" was instantly cool to me). It's an EP, but it's pretty long, and now it's time to JUMP RIGHT IN (head first this time) to the review. Of Drunken Butterfly. Dude.
1. Blairaq
An obvious combination of the words "Blair" (as in Tony Blair) and "Iraq", it's an anti-war song with soft vocals and acoustic guitars and stuff like that. Lots of neat other instruments besides standard guitars and drums -- I checked their page and apparently they're using a cow xylophone, a ukelele, and a melodica... sounds like they just picked up whatever instruments they could find and used them for the band! The band insists how they care about a bunch of things like the welfare of soldiers and dying children. And wearing togas. It has a really beautiful melody to it. Real good song. Also the longest one.
2. April the First
One of the rougher cuts on here. There's a real gritty 'lectric guitar sound to this song and they scream and yell instead of singing nicely here. It's an anti-government anthem about wanting freedom and privacy from the government and protesting as a way to maintain freedom. The song encourages listeners to stop being "full of shit" and go out and stop the government from taking over peoples' lives and ruining the world even more.
3. Ballotpaper Blues
I really do like that melodica. And the main riff is played on a ukelele. Pretty 'punk' if you ask me. It's about the confusion of not being able to decide who to vote for to take control of the government and the general disinformation plaguing people in just about anywhere as the politicians of the world (most of 'em) always pull smokescreens over their real intents to look good so they can get what they want. This is the one song on the EP that you can download for free.
4. The Vibrator Song
A song about wankin' off with a vibrator (if you have a vagina, that iz). Hahahahahahahahahaha. And her mom believes that having a "plastic cock" inside is a sin. One worthy of going to hell, possibly. Golly geez, that sure sounds pretty bad. I just can't help but laugh. That's what the song's about... her parents thinking that it's evil to masturbate with a vibrator. On this one it's mostly a piano and drums. This band plays a lot of different instruments. I don't even need a vibrator. I have a hand. HAH! Wait, I think it's a cover of a song by the band... "the Red Aunts" (I got that from the band's website).
5. Accidental
Acoustic guitar and piano and drumz song. Pretty decent, but less interesting than some of the othre songs. Not much I can say that hasn't been said about the other songs. I like how she sings "I tried". Sounds goooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooood .
6. An Anarchist's Guide to Personal Hygiene
My favorite song on the record. Uses distorted electric guitar and it has a real cool riff. The song is a parody of pseudo/fashion anarchists who pretend to be for the cause but don't really do shit about any of it except for talking about it and wearing it like a symbol. I don't really consider myself one because I don't think the world is ready for something like anarchy, but a lot of people talk about revolution and anarchy and shit and sometimes I wonder how much they've actually done to fix the problem themselves. Maybe I'm the dumbass. But yeah, it's a really good up-beat song (the opposite of beat-up) and the melodica tune sounds great as well. Suffice to say I did not learn anything about personal hygiene. So much for THAT.
7. Warpaint A soft song with mostly only ukelele and singing. Sort of a sad feel to it. "You make me want to punch someone". A break-up song, maybe. Over five minutes long, like the first song.
So, that's the first official musical working from Drunken Butterfly and it's neat to hear a band that can play different instruments besides the standard guitar/bass/drum setup and still sound bad-ass. Most of it is very political/feminist oriented, but it doesn't sound generic at all like some bands that base their music around that. Yes, the band is from the U.K., in case you are wondering. The band consists of Darcie (vox/bass), Alice (guitar), Kezia (drums). I think Alice iz pretty. This EP can be purchased online for £3.50, so I'm not entirely sure what that translates to in American money because I'm stupid like that. But if you don't have a credit card, maybe you could write the band a letter or something. Who nose? But even if you have no money at all, you can still listen to the music from the band's website:
http://drunkenbutterfly.bandcamp.com/
See you next time.
Top 3 Favorites:
1. An Anarchist's Guide to Personal Hygiene
2. Blairaq
3. April the First
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