What are Buttertones? Is it an album? Is it a band? Is it a plane?

Yes. The answer is all of them. Well, I admit, I lied about the plane. But an album and a band, they are. And a pretty fine one, at that. This sweet little 5-piece band comes from L.A., adding yet another tally to the board for talented indie rock outfits coming out of that area. The Buttertones’ self-titled album (a s/t, for future reference), Buttertones features a very nice, overarching summertime jangliness, an almost vintage tinted vibe, reminding me of a slight mixture of the Strokes and The Killers. You can definitely feel the warmth of the record, especially on their sick surf-rock track, “Kaleidopope”. Vocals in this track especially take me back to something like Brandon Flowers, “Bones” by The Killers in vocals, maybe something more Arctic Monkeys on that absolutely ripping bass line.

The subject matter of the songs in this album are, generally, serenades. Some are drunken, like in “Dionysus”, some are just an observation of beauty, like in “Nu Suave” or a reflection of the self, like in “Reminiscing”. I’d be remiss if I didn’t sneak in a mention of Young Hunting here, who does similar vintage type serenades, though admittedly this album is more in the style of a TV Girl serenade, as he also has a sweet, warm, summery tone, but also in the serenade shaded music, like TV Girl’s song “Lovers Rock”.

My favorite tracks from the album had to be “Orpheus Under the Influence”, “Kaleidopope”, “Dionysus” and “Nu Suave” (but to be fair, they’re all good.) The album is only about 25 minutes long, which by the end of it feels too short, but is good because it leaves you wanting more of their music, of which they have another album, American Brunch and an EP, For the Head and for the Feet. The album is the same length, and the EP is about 12 minutes, you should give them a listen.

And here’s a playlist which will include this album, then some songs that I was reminded of listening to this, and related music.

Thanks and have a great week. :)