Search - Butterglory :: Crumble

Spacious and minimal vignettes; great sleeper of a record!

Ken Milne | Seattle, WA | 06/15/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Sometimes original voices go unnoticed because the crush of stupidity surrounding them drowns out their words. You could fault the overwhelmed for not speaking up, but after the blowhards pass out or lose their two-second attention spans, the original voices are still there, steadily persuading you to really listen to what they're saying, even though doing so can be difficult. Butterglory offers that kind of voice. The songs on Crumble quietly capture your attention, and occasionally rev up into a frenzy that makes the warbly voices of Matt Suggs and Debby Vander Wall take on new shadings. If you're not paying attention, you'll miss the minimal, austere details of their rueful, Western-dustbowl yarns: flickers of clumsy starlit disappointment and hope, high school track meets and pranks, romantic catch-22s, and slightly zany takes on suburban cures for boredom and natural disasters. If you ever wondered how David Berman of Silver Jews would have described a tornado before he ever dropped acid, or how a girl feels when a romantic disappointment screws up her whole summer, let Crumble be your guide. Be prepared to hear a great collection of simple indie pop vignettes that, while they occasionally nod to early Cure, Camper Van Beethoven circa "Take the Skinheads Bowling", and early Pavement; speak out above the trendy din, firmly planted in their unique voices. Look for this record to be remembered as one of the great sleepers of the 1990s."