Review: Butterscott Presents The Slick Overproduced Commercial Pop Thing

The side project is often that strange third cousin of a creature. For songs that don't fit the commercially successful (read: money-making) band, experimentation or just plain silliness, you have that other outlet.

Boston's enduring land of local, original and out of sight groups has never faded. There's been no shortage of local promoters, deejays and critics to get the message out, but few were as prolific as the late Mikey Dee. Host of "On The Town..." on WMFO 91.5 FM, Mikey brought listeners a steady stream of music you were not going to get anyplace else but college radio, or, if you were like Mikey, hitting the clubs every night.

Which brings us to Butterscott. In the early 90's, Jon Scott was churning out cassette tapes (remember those?) of strange, tongue-in-cheek songs that drew heavily on pop and bubblegum music. Once classmates, Mikey and Jon formed a band that underwent numerous name and lineup changes. A couple of years, one 7" single, and several twisted shows later Buzz Syndrome came aboard to play bass and additional instruments.

Then those tapes disappeared.

The details of their vanishing act remain as murky as band members' recollections. According to Buzz, they turned up in Brooklyn, in a box, beneath a toilet. Jon and Buzz reunited in 2013 with producer Skyy "Shy" Shalimar for the album In a World... They then decided to revisit the old tapes, and record new tracks with current drummer Choc Van Shake, guitarists Ad Equate, Zeus Stone, and the Four Point Restraints.

Butterscott (l-r): Buzz Syndrome, Choc Van Shake, Jon Scott

The result is The Slick Overproduced Commercial Pop Thing, a somewhat serious take on the music industry, commercialism and culture. Most of the 36 tracks are drop-ins, fake commercials and adverts for Christ Krispies and Chocolate Buttered Onion Rings. There's also numerous rips of pop music hooks that would make even those being riffed upon laugh.

See where they're going with this?

The thing is: there is musical professionalism amidst the madness. Butterscott assumes different band roles; they become a rockabilly outfit for "Mindless Boogie," this writer's personal favorite is "Rekkid Grouch" (sound it out like a Bostonian). The Association comes to mind with "Moist," and then there's "Legoagogo."

In sum, Butterscott comes off as a punk band that does a good job of not making you think they give a damn. Listen, you'll hear everyone else's music, what the band is doing to it, and their own creative twists. If anything, the guys are having fun, and it's good for a laugh plus the realization of what kind of work goes into doing a screwball project like this one.

https://www.facebook.com/Butterscottband

http://butterscott.bandcamp.com

http://balefire.tripod.com/who.html

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