SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: BUTCH BASTARD – DEATH VALLEY

BUTCH BASTARD
DEATH VALLEY
BUTCHIE BABY

Butch Bastard is really Ian Murray, former member of Poor Moon and now a solo artist based in Los Angeles. Death Valley is his third full length studio and his first since 2023’s Las Vegas Salvation. Once again, this is a primarily solo project with Murray playing most of the instruments and little help from a few friends. Butch Bastard writes very melodic and well written songs. With Death Valley, he doesn’t change that. Like Father John Misty, Butch Bastard is no stranger to the sounds and music from the 1970s. Perhaps not lyrically, but musically, this album is more steeped in classic rock than grunge.

Having said that, the first track, “The Other Side” does feature some nice, distorted guitar. But, it does not distract from the overall song, but rather adds a great deal to it. This is followed by the wonderful “If It Wasn’t For The UFOs”. There is no chorus, but the song finds its way into the brain and stays there.

Lyrically, the album does deal a great deal with depression, death, and spirituality. In that sense, Death Valley is the perfect title for the album, which brings us to the title track, which closes the album. It is a beautiful piano-based ballad and a rather heavy way to end the album. Butch Bastard does not leave the audience on a happy note, but rather a resigned feeling about the end of life. There is a bonus song, “Green Figurines”, that is somewhat rocker and does not leave the listener with a great deal of hope.

Death Valley is a very interesting album. It is well produced and played. Murray has a great, emotional voice and he delivers the song with a great deal of vulnerability and strength. Sure that statement is a contradiction, but then so is so much of life. Death Valley is a great album.

Artist Links