speed of dark

The Builders and the Butchers opened for the Helio Sequence at Spaceland on Tuesday, Feb. 26, and this is a continuation of that concert review.

Immediately after the ladies of Hearts of Palm UK exited, the members of The Builders and the Butchers materialized out of the audience and took over the low stage by climbing onto it from the front. I didn't know anything about them before the show except for a couple of songs I had picked up just to see what they were like.

Those few recorded songs did not in any way prepare me for this band's impact live--imagine a southern roots gospel stomp with references to the night crawling in on red hands and finding yourself at the bottom of a vampire lake. The heavy stomp is produced by the double percussion team of Ray Rude (snare drum), who wears a tambourine strapped to his left leg while he uses both hands on drums, and Paul Seely thumping away on bass drum (he also plays trumpet and melodica).

"Ragged, ramshackle, raucous and fucking brilliant..." gushed Matt at Song, By Toad blog, placing the The Builders and the Butchers' debut self-titled CD in his top five albums of 2007, and I'm stealing his words because they're a really accurate description. Matt would probably deposit a cow at their live show, however.

Ragged, yes, but just to the point of having delicious texture. Ramshackle, yes, but not in any way due to lack of skill. Raucous, yes! And magnetic, and impossible to look away from. To anyone planning their schedule for SXSW 2008, you need to put this band on your must-see list because if you don't, everyone will be telling you what a damn good show you missed, and you will be SORRY--mark my words!

One of The Builders and the Butchers' major charms is using unconventional items as instruments. Singer/guitarist Ryan Sollee altered his voice with a huge megaphone during "Bottom of the Lake" and on another song sang through what he told me later was a collapsible auto oil funnel. Paul Seely flailed away with bright green styrofoam swim tubes (see top photo) on "Bringing Home the Rain."



Alex Ellis (bass, above in Zero T-shirt) and Harvey Tumbelson (below left, mandolin, banjo) complete the lineup with more regular instruments. Everybody sings backup and is credited with percussion. I don't have the titles of all the songs because they performed some that are not on the CD. If I find out, I'll add a comment.



COPYRIGHTED CONTENT HAS BEEN REMOVED

Setlist:
1. Vampire Lake
2. ?
3. Sollee announced this as a brand new song, which I'll guess is called Short Way Home
4. Black Dresses (a sing-along!)
5. Bottom of the Lake (with Sollee on megaphone)
6. When It Rains
7. ? (something about the house on fire)
8. ?
9. Spanish Death
10. Bringing Home the Rain

For "Bringing Home the Rain," Ryan and Paul opened up a wooden chest and brought out tambourines, shakers, and pot lids and passed them around to the audience for a big play-along that had everyone in the room contributing. Ryan told me later they always lose a few at each show, so they regularly shop at 99-cent stores. They had picked up the swim tubes there just before this show.

This ramshackle bit could result in cacophony instead of music, but it doesn't, in fact it works great. Underlying it all is firm musical skill and sensibility that transcends whatever The Builders and the Butchers use to produce the music. Would I see them again? You bet, and I may get the chance to do that in May.



MySpace | Label: Bladen County Records | SXSW Info
Buy at CD Baby, iTunes

Watch this video of "Bringing On the Rain"