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Flanfire (Duggan Flanakin) is bringing LIFE to Austin music -- and telling the world how sweet it is!
Saturday, September 23, 2006
Buttercup Comes Up Roses!
Sometimes it takes two guys to play one guitar (Joe and Erik); Erik, Marcus Rubio, and Odie making music together onstage.
What an evening at Ruta Maya (and I even missed The Onlys, who opened, so that I could catch up with Leeann Atherton and her hot band at Maria's -- and pick up her very hot new CD, which will be reviewed here very soon, along with the brand-new CD by The Summer Wardrobe). THIS entry, though, is reserved for San Antonio's gift to musical joy - Buttercup!
It has been quite a while since I have seen an area band with the whole package -- great songs, great performances and theater on stage, great artwork on their CD's and the coolest T-shirts too -- and that joyful care-free attitude that focuses heavily on making sure the audience has a good time. Best of all - the band plays loud only during breaks and makes sure that you catch every word they are singing - something that lots of other bands (and sound engineers) ought to learn to do. These guys - who have been playing or working at music for two decades in various ways - are indeed ready for bigger stages than Austin's Cactus Cafe and Continental Club or the ballrooms of suburban Seguin.
[Editor's note: Have you too noticed that some clubs have sound guys who must think people come to hear the taped music in between sets and not the bands because they often play stuff that does not fit the genre and at a volume that precludes conversation -- sometimes even louder than the live bands!]
Now I had already been highly entertained by the psychedelic gumbo from Baton Rouge born Jon Sanchez and The Summer Wardrobe - of which I will write much more in my next entry - but Jon had introduced me to guitarist Joe Reyes and lead singer Erik Sanden as I walked in the door and the guys offered me their new CD to review, so I thought it only proper to stick around. Then my pal Robyn stopped by, noting that SHE is a fan of Buttercup, and I admire HER taste in music .. and the guys had such winning personalities that I was actually looking forward to -- I knew not what.
I soon found out. Most bands with brand new product tend to focus on the new stuff - and indeed out of 11 songs, we did get "Egypt," "Hot Love," and "You and You Alone" (Joe's intense ballad that even makes him cry), and "Hello Goodbye" from HOT LOVE! The band also played "In Spain" and "Downslide" from Sick Yellow Flower (released in 2005 and still fresh!), some songs that are brand new, including bassist Odie's ode to his mother's home country of Japan "Flowers and Elephants" (which is about the bombing of Hiroshima) and another new Odie song, "Innocence," plus a rip-roaring, Texas-specific version of David Byrne's "Road to Nowhere" that featured lots of marching, jumping around, and pure mania on stage (and on the dance floor). On the final cut of the evening, Buttercup brought up 17-year-old San Antonio prodigy Marcus Rubio to play guitar so that Erik could totally destroy the stage with his adventurous acrobatics.
Erik had noted that the boys had been working very hard on cover songs for the past several days - and the four-part harmonies that opened the Talking Heads classic (yes, drummer Jamie Roadman not only drew praise from Austin percussionist extraordinaire Dony Wynn but also got kudos for his backing vocals) - showed the true depths of showmanship of this band from the city that Doug Sahm made famous. The boys put us through such a trippy time that sometimes we were laughing out loud only to realize the seriousness of the message of the song. This is pure pop music with sometimes biting lyrics that cut down deep -- and a lot of BOUNCE!
The story goes (as Erik told me) that Buttercup was just a bunch of guys fooling around a few years back, but that his longtime pool shark buddy Joe condescended to join the band on condition that they actually PRACTICE (imagine that!). Well, since Joe already had a Grammy in hand for co-producing Freddy Fender's 2002 CD La Musica de Baldemar Huerta and a Grammy nomination as half of the flamenco duo Lara & Reyes, what else could a bunch of slackers do but give in? The spontaneity is still there, the creativity seems to have grown exponentially, and now the band appears to be polishing its apple just a little bit more to get ready for places like Letterman and Leno and outdoor music festival stages.
Buttercup next visits Austin on October 6 - at Waterloo for a cameo and then at Cafe Mundi, and then has sets at the end of October at both Emo's and the Saxon Pub. As the old saying goes, catch 'em while you can!
