The Buttertones - Jazzhound (2020)

The Buttertones arrive with Jazzhound, their most extravagant, ambitious, and fully realized album to date. Modesto 'Cobi' Cobiån, Sean Redman, and vocalist/guitarist Richard Araiza have been playing together for seven years now, having first come together for a self-titled debut in 2013; along with London Guzman on sax and keys, they've come to establish themselves as one of L.A.'s tightest groups, conquering stages from Coachella to Tropicalia. Continuing their partnership with producer Jonny Bell of Crystal Antlers, who produced the last record, Midnight in a Moonless Dream as well as 2017's Gravedigging, the Buttertones waited until they were good and ready before hitting the legendary Electro-Vox Studios in Hollywood, where they arrived knowing exactly what they wanted to lay to tape. Armed with an arsenal of the most propulsive music they've written yet, the band recorded the album mostly live'an ideal method for capturing their cult-status live show, which carries on the torch of acts like the Walkmen and the Fleshtones. Jazzhound is completely new territory for the group, too, with Araiza, who calls this album 'probably the darkest one' he's written lyrically, pushing his Ian Curtis-via-Bobby Darin baritone to new depths, particularly on scorchers like 'Phantom Eyes' and 'Bebop.' It's also the first album with Cobiån acting'and thriving'in his new role as a full-time guitarist (the drum parts were written by him and played by session musician Paul Doyle), and the first since the departure of guitarist Dakota Boettcher as well.