What does the band name Butter the Children make you think of? The name itself may be kind of strange to hear at first. It probably even sets a weird image in your head, but not to fear — Butter the Children offer more than just a weird band name that isn’t Google search friendly. The four-piece Brooklyn outfit named after the poem, “A Modest Proposal” by the satirist writer Jonathan Swift, create pop-punk tunes à la My Bloody Valentine and other ’80s and early ’90s influential bands. So they didn’t just randomly come up with the name, and they could care less what you think. The band is made up of ex-members of Sweet Bulbs, Night Manager, Fiasco, and Le Rug with Inna Mkrtycheva on vocals, Ray Weiss on guitar, J Boxer on bass, and Jordyn Blakely on drums. Butter The Children are about to butter you up with a smooth serving of rock ‘n’ roll.
Why We Like Them:
They use old-school ’80s riffs blended with a raw attitude that makes us bounce to their infectious rock tunes. Butter the Children fall in the category of classic female-fronted bands such as Garbage, the Breeders, and the Cranberries — while offering their own unique and fierce sound. They give us a tinge of ’80s melancholia, but boast a modern roar for today.
Best Songs:
Well, there’s only three songs on their True Crime EP, so yeah, we think they’re all the best.
“Spit It Out” – The head-bobbing single features pulsating drums with Inna’s voice soaring over all the chaos. Their rock ‘n’ roll attitude is prevalent throughout the song. A reference to Husker Du’s “Something I learned Today” can be heard along the beating drums.
“Loose” – Sounds like Debbie Harry, but with more of a punk edge and nicely controlled harmonized vocals. It’s a song you can easily fall in love with and play one too many times!
“Dennis” – ‘80s new wave guitar riffs can be heard in this gem. The song sounds like it would be featured in a classic teenage girl chick flick. Transversing from monotone guitar riffs to what sounds like slide, this is the kind of song that will go off at a live show. The lyrics “I never met you, I can’t forget you” will more than likely stick in your head (they’re still stuck in mine and I’m totally okay with that).
Three Words to Describe Butter the Children: Fun – Passionate – Catchy
Releases:
Butter the Children just released their debut EP, True Crime, via Downtown Records featuring all three songs mentioned above. The EP’s all about it’s title (true crime), as well as miserable situations, and friends dying. You can stream True Crime below!
Interesting tidbit:
If you Google the band under the “images category,” you may come across pictures of food, butter, children working with butter – even a random picture of a dog-unicorn came out (fun scavenging). Also, Inna used to work for a suicide hotline, which is where she found the inspiration for some songs off the EP.
Words: Brissa Sanchez
Butter The Children
True Crime EP
(Downtown Records)
Street Date: August 20, 2013
