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New Release
Play for the Films by Butchers Blind
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Paradiddle Records is
proud to present "Play for the Films", the debut release of Butchers Blind. Encompassing the rich
history of Americana Roots music and taking their influences from early
pioneers like the Buffalo Springfield, Gram Parsons and the Band, melding it
with today's forerunners of the genre like Wilco, Butchers Blind creates a
sound uniquely their own. Pete Mancini's confident, yet vulnerable
vocals convey songs about adventure and discovery. "Play
for the Films" is inspired in part
by Mancini's interpretation of his father's cross country travel journals,
discovered by Mancini after having made a similar journey himself. "Play
for the Films" will take you on a
journey, too.
Butchers Blind: Play for the Filmswww.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B005G6QVTC/nodepr-20\"> style="text-decoration: none;">Rocking alt.country from the heart
of Long Island, NY This Long Island trio dropped a few demo tracks in 2009 (reviewed here), target=_blank>www.hyperbolium.com/2009/12/29/butchers-blind-one-more-time/\">here),
promoting the catchy "One More Time" into a single and attracting some local
attention. They've returned with a full album that leans on both their
alt.country and rock roots. The Wilco influence is strong (unsurprising, given
the band is named after one of Wilco's lyrical creations), and Pete Mancini's
voice favors the reediness of Jeff Tweedy; but there's also a melancholy in his
delivery that suggests Chris Bell, and a soulful bottom end in the rhythm
section that gives the band plenty of rock flavor. Mancini's latest songs were
inspired by travel journals kept by his father, as well as his own
cross-country travels. From the opening "Brass Bell" you can feel the
wanderlust, the urge to blow town, the expectation of the journey ahead and the
confidence of someone young enough to enjoy (or at least react to) the moment. The previously released "One More Time," is
repeated here at a faster tempo, adding a measure of urgency to the road's
opportunities and challenges. There's discord and difficult choices, and
emotional dead-ends magnified by the relentless closeness of travel.
Communication shuts down, relationships split, and roundtrips don't always end
in the same emotional spot they began. The album tips its hat to Steve Earle,
as "Highway Song" opens with the signature guitar riff of "Devil's Right Hand,"
but where Earle's early work, especially Guitar target=_blank>www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00005V7G1/nodepr-20\">Guitar Town,
pictured small town inhabitants dreaming of escape, Mancini's protagonists are
looking back from the road. The album closes with "Never Changing Thing," a
letter home filled with the growing realization that a return trip may not be
in the cards. It's a fitting end to an album of emotional changes wrought by
physical travel, and physical changes wrought by emotional travel. [2011
"Their melodies are ingratiating in
the way of fine pop records, and Mancini is a vocalist whose
vulnerability holds you from the first word."
- Hyperbolium, August 2011
"Butchers
Blind has a mournful pop songwriting style, slightly reminiscent of the
Counting Crows, but blended with a folk-country sensibility to form a
sound that is all their own."
- Long Island Pulse Magazine
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