Review Revue: The Jazz Butcher - Fishcotheque

The Jazz Butcher have always seemed like an intimidating band to get into. There's the large catalog (10 LPs and countless singles by the time I was flipping through the bins at independent record stores), the multiple names (The Jazz Butcher, The Jazz Butcher Conspiracy, The Jazz Butcher & His Sikkorskis From Hell, Black EG), the arty band name and album titles, their text-heavy html we b site. But I just now dialed up a random selection from their early years on my preferred streaming service (Fishcoteque was unavailable), and it's surprisingly poppy and accessible, although not without an edge of weirdness. Quite enjoyable!

Obviously I've got some catching up to do, including their 2012 album Last of the Gentleman Adventurers, their first in a dozen years. It looks like they're still quite active with touring; here's hoping they'll be adding to the discography sooner rather than later.

"[arrow pointing to picture] R. Hitchcock's Restaurant (Honest). Well it's the Jazz B and other folks I've never heard of before. No matter how much Max Eider can sound like the Jazz Butcher onlly the real thing works well. This is melodic and funny. Sounds nice and is generally swell."

"'O'Higgins' produces here and has worked on many midnight music releases. Hmmm. So far, so good. (2-1)"

"This definitely has a 'New' sound, but it sounds good to me. -Mouth head"

"This batch of songs is just fine. But I would have preferred hearing them with that old familiar sound. The charm seems to be a bit lost. M as is."

"Dave, this is a nice shifting of gears for sir Butcher. Some of the old sound is retained, although much of the humor has been lost. I still like it. No more Mouthhead"

"Swell. But humor to spare, Mr. Mouthhead. What about the LP title for a start? Geez."

"[speech bubble from guy on the right] Hey man, KCMU welcomes Jazz Butcher to the Backstage on 10/23/90. We gotta be there."

"[speech bubble from guy on the left] Word."