After the release of Letters, Butch Walker’s name started to creep into the mainstream. He had been a successful producer since the end of the Marvelous 3, but his clients became more high profile. He co-wrote the #1 single “My Happy Ending” with Avril Lavigne, who asked him to open for her on her world tour. He worked with Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee on his solo album, Tommyland: The Ride. Even movie star and cocaine enthusiast Lindsay Lohan got the Walker touch. It seemed like Butch was on the verge of true rock stardom.
The Rise and Fall of Butch Walker and the Let’s Go Out Tonites is Butch’s sincere stab at rock stardom. He approached this record with a concept in mind and threw himself in full throttle. The opening riff of “Hot Girls in Good Moods” sets the tone for the entire record. Butch and his new backing band, The Let’s Go Out Tonites create a world of vapid celebutants, hipster hangouts and parties that end up on the pages of tabloids.
Butch surrenders completely to the concept and ultimately comes up short. Rise and Fall is my least favorite Butch Walker album, simply because he tried too hard to make that leap. It’s probably a bit unfair, because I compared it to Letters, which set the bar unrealistically high. My biggest problem with the album is the tone. I can never figure out if it was meant as Butch’s love letter to Los Angeles or a condemnation of the lifestyle. Butch writes himself into these scenes as a secondary character. It works, but I prefer his personal songs. I couldn’t relate to trust fund kids drinking their first beer, because I was never that cool.
Perhaps I’m being too harsh, because I like a lot of this album. “Bethamphetimine” is a damn near perfect affectation of Transformer-era Lou Reed. I especially like the way he coos “You’re pretty strung out for a girl” at the end of the chorus. If I were to make a list of my favorite Butch Walker songs, “The Taste of Red” would easily make my top ten. It sounds like it was written on the most exotic beach in the world with 50 scantily clad women in front of him. It might be Butch’s best sex song. “We’re All Going Down” is an epic ballad. Butch’s voice bends and breaks in ways God never intended. When he goes into the home stretch, you can see the veins in his neck popping out as he hits the high notes.
Even if parts of Rise and Fall didn’t work, you have to give Butch credit for trying something completely different. He could have easily released Letters II, but he didn’t. I’d rather listen to a guy trying too hard than listen to someone who isn’t trying at all. Butch Walker thought that Rise and Fall would be his ticket to rock stardom. Unfortunately it never happened. He was dropped by Epic. Butch Walker was an unsigned artist for the first time in a decade. For the first time, he was going to be in control of his professional destiny, but not before a personal tragedy changed his life forever.
Key Tracks: “Bethamphetimine (Pretty Pretty),” “The Taste of Red,” “We’re All Going Down,” “Hot Girls in Good Moods”
Tomorrow: Sycamore Meadows