Butterfly Review
by Amy Hanson
Rising from the apocalyptic rubble of the
post-grunge era, Britain's Earth 18 unleashed their Butterfly LP debut
in 1995. Sounding for all the world like glammed-out rock & rollers
enmeshed in a battle of wills with the flannelled, goateed alt-rock
brigade, the songs on Butterfly roil and seethe, sublimated only by
early era giveaway drumbeats and vocalist John Dupree's occasional penchant for channeling the spirit of T. Rex's Marc Bolan.
From the wonderful opener "La La Song," which harkens back to a
platform-booted era despite its Generation X lyrics, to the light jibes
at heavy metal meatheads on the heavy, hair-shaking "Mechanimal," and on
to the absolutely marvelous downer, "The Fall Divine," this band proves
proficient across a sonic jigsaw puzzle. Throw in the dirty rock &
roll of "Maximum Teenage Overdrive," which threads dated tinky-tinky
synthesizers among Pink Floyd
moments, and the theatrically over-the-top fuzz of "The Girl With the
Downward Smile," and you've pretty much covered the decade to date, with
a few others thrown in as well. Enjoyable and interesting across the
board, it's a shame Earth 18 were relegated to little more than a flash
in the pan. It's possible that they may have revealed themselves to be a
one-album kind of a band, but it's also plausible that, with a little
time and leeway, they might have developed into something very special
indeed.
Tracklist
| 1 | La La Song | |
| 2 | Dolores Haze | |
| 3 | Mechanimal | |
| 4 | The Fall Divine | |
| 5 | Goin' Steady | |
| 6 | Dahlia | |
| 7 | Maximum Teenage Overdrive | |
| 8 | Girl Of The Downward Smile | |
| 9 | Long Gone | |
| 10 | Blood Revival 99 |
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