CD Review – The Builders and the Butchers
Dead Reckoning
Badman Recording Co.
I recently watched a documentary on Johnny Cash and there were dozens of people interviewed including country rebels Kris Kristofferson and Merle Haggard. That got me thinking, “Where did all the rebels go?” Now I know. They became The Builders and the Butchers. These four anti-heroes have combined to make music that would make The Highwaymen proud.
On “Rotten to the Core,” the heavy guitar beat cuts to a four-part acappella chorus of “The whole world is rotten to the core.” “It Came from the Sea” is something that could easily fit on a Decemberists album. (It also doesn’t hurt that lead singer Ryan Sollee sounds very similar to Decemberists front man Colin Meloy.)
Taking a cue from the recording style of the 1950s and 60s, the group recorded the songs one-at-a-time with little-to-no overdubbing. Each song is like a mini live experience. The best experiences are the pulsating “Cradle on Fire” and the call-and-response of “Family Tree.”
Rebel rousers who are itching for something to blow up the “alt-country” tag, need to look no further than The Builders and the Butchers latest.
