Title:Butch By: Geraldine Fibbers Released by: Virgin Released on: 1997 Rating (out of 10): 9 Date: 07/18/2001
Lousy Lays and Reasons to Live
The Geraldine Fibbers are heavy. I don't mean that in a whoa-man, It's a Beautiful Day kinda way, or in a fist-pumping jocko-testo-aggro Glenn Danzig way.
It's just that the Fibbers create a sound on their 1997 album, Butch, that is full, potent, and indestructible, and that's mainly the fault of lead sexpot (and kickass musician) Carla Bozulich.
To call Carla Bozulich's voice sexy and leave it at that would be a disservice and a grave injustice. Marilyn Monroe's voice was sexy; it was also weak, demure, and pilled to the gills.
Bozulich has a voice like a supermarket on fire, with an endless stock of cynicism, humor, romance, and world-weariness sending its chemical blaze into the sky.
Equal parts Patti, Polly, and Patsy, but never a blatant rip-off of any of those, Bozulich carries the aura of a seasoned cowpunk chick who has spent much of her life vanning it around and playing for tips and beer on Tuesday nights in frat bars, honkytonks, and pissholes.
The Geraldine Fibbers would be a great band if they had only Bozulich as a shining light, but the Fibbers' sound is given a lightning-crack sizzle by super-guitarist Nels Cline (speaking of signature sounds—Cline's leads are typically juicy and elegant) and violinist/violist Jessy Greene, who adds a Velvets-like classicism to the band. Completing the lineup are William Tutton on bass and Kevin Fitzgerald on drums.
With all these elements in place, the sound is expansive, warm, and just a little bit frightening—making the transcendent leap from great to fanfreakingtastic.
Standouts on Butch are "California Tuffy" (drum-driven Pretendersesque radio girlswagger pop), "I Killed the Cuckoo" (melodic ska-speed-thrash), "Trashman in Furs" (unsettling orchestral country), "You Doo Right" (rockabilly singalong blues explosion), and "The Dwarf Song" (Goth depression meets Lou Reed heroin loveliness out in a burning canyon).
There isn't a filler track among the 14 on Butch. Every song is captivating, dynamic, and truly majestic—I can't take my ears off this album for a second. And I don't wanna.
