Cut of the Day: "Dirt in the Ground," The Builders and The Butchers

Singer-guitarist Ryan Sollee and the boys of the Builders and the Butchers haven't lost their innate ability to make you feel super-jazzed and completely unsettled at the same time.

We haven’t heard much from the band in a while, b
ut apparently they've been cranking out twisted, Cormac McCarthy-inspired tunes with the aid of STRFKR producer Dylan Magierek. “Dirt in the Ground,” from the forthcoming Western Medicine, is a sprawling cut featuring the quaint Southern gothic charm and folksy vitality that got them voted 
Best New Band of 2008
.

“Daddy went out to the yard last night and he was dancing on his very own grave,” Sollee sings on track’s opening moments, amid the chugging rhythm and boisterous clamor. “They gave him the box, the shovel and the cross/You get the hammer and the nails, boy.”


The dark, sweeping number billows for more than four minutes, mellowing only slightly before its relentless conclusion of dual drums, guitar and ping-ponging wails. It will surely make for a rousing singalong when the band hits a string of shows across the United States this summer.


Building upon its third album, 2011’s excellent Dead Reckoning, the band seems to be bringing all of its Portland-honed guns to the table for this next release. Members of Federale, Albatross and the Portland Cello Project all play guest roles in the album’s liner notes, as does new sonic instrumentation. I guess busking actually does pay off. 



Western Medicine officially drops on July 2 on Badman Recording Co., but I’m sure you can snag a copy of the album at the band’s release show at Mississippi Studios on June 22.

WWeek 2015

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