The Rise and Fall of Butch Walker and the Lets Go Out Tonites

Butch Walker is one of the best songwriters of our generation. However, most casual music fans are painfully unaware of this statement of fact.

My introduction to Butch came while he was still the frontman of Marvelous 3. Marv 3's 1998 masterpiece "Hey! Album" was critically acclaimed and even spawned a moderate radio hit with "Freak of the Week," but was a relative flop commercially. Regardless, from start to finish the album was like nothing I'd ever heard before. Every single song had multiple monster hooks, and Butch's zestful enthusiasm on each track was infectious. Seriously, do yourself a favor and listen to "Every Monday," and tell me that song doesn't make you want to sing at the top of your lungs in a joyful drunken stupor with all of your friends and several hobos late on a Friday night.

You know that life-changing moment when you hear an album for the very first time and everything just clicks and you wish that everyone could make music this fantastic? For me it's only happened a handful of times - in 1994 with Green Day's "Dookie," and in 1998 with both Phantom Planet's "Phantom Planet is Missing" and "Hey! Album."

The band came back in 2000 with "ReadySexGo!," which contained more of the insanely catchy power-pop that was the band's calling card, but sold even worse than its predecessor. Still, I had the distinct pleasure of catching one of the band's last shows in the fall of that year at Bowery Ballroom, and to this day I have never seen a band put on a better live show. Butch Walker was simply born to be a performer, and he does his damnedest to make sure you've gotten your money's worth. Same goes for the second time I saw him live two years ago.

After the band inevitably broke up, Butch embarked a solo career, both as an artist and a producer. He's actually had quite a bit of success in the latter, having produced hit singles for a shitload of mainstream artists including Avril Lavigne, Pink and several other chart-toppers as well as lesser-known acts like Midtown and Bowling for Soup.

Butch's hitmaking abilities aside, the man still truly shines as a songwriter and performer. His solo debut, "Left of Self-Centered," essentially picked up where "ReadySexGo!" left off, and is easily the most Marvelous 3-sounding of his solo oeuvre. In fact, almost every song off this record is spectacular, and the album only really stumbles in the middle with the back-to-back sequenceing of crap songs "Into the Black" and "Get Down," though this lull is more than redeemed by the end of the album which closes in classic grandiose Butch fashion with "If" and "Take Tomorrow."

Unfortunately Butch's 2004 follow-up, "Letters," was a severe disappointment and also found Butch almost completely revamping his sound as a wounded singer-songwriter type. Now here's the thing about Butch - as fans, we tend to like to pigeonhole our favorite artists and get a bit bent out of shape when they begin to experiment. I don't have a problem with trying out different things per se, because you certainly don't want to be releasing the same album every two years, but when you're trying to vary things up, it helps when the songs are actually good, and most of "Letters" is dreadfully boring, with the exception of the Good-Christ-how-can-a-human-being-possibly-write-a-song-this-catchy "#1 Summer Jam."

Which brings us to Butch's latest album, "The Rise and Fall of Butch Walker and the Lets Go Out Tonites," released last week. As a fan of Butch's loud, catchy material, this record marks a triumphant return to form. It's nearly impossible to toss this album on and not have a giant smile on your face as Butch rips through more disgustingly catchy aural goodness. This is a quintessential summer album; designed to blasted from your car whilst driving to the beach or getting laid. Or both at the same time. However, Butch being Butch, there are a few hiccups as he once again tries to branch out into slow, boring territory with "We're All Going Down," "Dominoes" and "Rich People Die Unhappy."

While his solo output taken as a whole has been mostly excellent and still head-and-shoulders above just about everything else, he has yet to release that one record that's mind-blowingly amazing. I'm probably in the minority here, but I really wish Butch would stick to what he knows best for the entire duration of an album: catchy-as-fuck power-fucking-pop with hooks that stick in your head for years. Still, "The Rise and Fall" is awfully close, and easily one of the best albums of the year.

Anyway, if you're still with me after this outrageously long-winded ode, Butch is playing at Irving Plaza a week from tonight, and I'd love to go. Unfortunately, none of my Butch Walker-enjoying friends are presently in town, and I'd really like to attend the show with someone who appreciates his music as much as I do. If any readers also happen to be Butch fans (which would automatically make you an incredible human being), let me know if you'd be interested in hitting up the show next week. Either drop me a comment or e-mail me at editor@thisiswhatwedonow.com.