Album Review: Jazzhound | The Buttertones

This is Album #34/20 that I listened to for my 2020 challenge. I listened to this album 8 times for my review.

Here are some quick stats about Jazzhound by The Buttertones:

• Album #5

• Released April 10, 2020 (Previous album release 2018)

• Album length: 36:00, 10 tracks

• Doesn't appear to have charted on the US Billboard 200

• Genre: Indie Rock, Surf Rock

• No Metacritic score

First, I want to provide some context for my experience with the band and why I decided to pick up this album. I had been looking around on the internet to see if there were any bands out there that were doing surf rock inspired kind of music these days. That's how I found The Buttertones. They were on some list of recommended modern, surf-rock bands and they had a 2020 release which worked perfectly for my 20 for 2020 Challenge. I've never heard any of their previous work.

I really liked listening to the unique sound of this band. I like how they're developing on themes from the last century and making them their own. Not many other bands are doing this kind of music these days. They reminded me of an indie, surf rock version of the Smiths. As I got further along with my listens, I did start to get a little bored with the album. A lot of the songs sound the same to me. There isn't much variety between the songs. It just becomes a little tedious when listening to the album in full. My favorite song was "Denial, You Win Again."

I'm really struggling with how to rate this album. On one hand I really love their take on this throwback genre. I love that they're continuing the surf rock genre in the modern age, and I really want to encourage them to continue making music. But I also am not a huge fan of the album as a whole just because it all sounds really similar (I don't hate it at all, I just get a little bored). I think I will appreciate each individual song more when listening to when they randomly come on during shuffle.

Recommendations:

Listen or don't listen? Listen. I think it's worth it to listen to this album because they have such a unique sound.

I am interested in listening to their previous and future music, because I really like their sound. Even though I really like their sound, I probably won't be listening to this album again in full. I'd give this album a 5.5/10. Have you listened to this album? Please let me know your thoughts down below.