Butch Walker and the Let's Go Out Tonites! - The Rise and Fall of...

Genre rock Publisher Epic External Links Official Butch Walker Website Official Epic Records Website

What a bitch success is. Butch Walker is one of those guys that's been knocking around the record business for nearly two decades now (his band Byte the Bullet changed their name to SouthGang while signed to Virgin and went exactly nowhere-aside from touring China) and major success didn't show up at his door until other artists began recording his songs. Sort of a kick in the balls in some ways, but I gotta figure those Avril Lavigne paychecks help to cushion the blow.

Now everyone wants a piece of the singer whose previous high water mark was the "blink and you'll miss 'em" Marvelous 3, the sort of '90s alternative rockers that were a dime a dozen back then. He's written and produced a ton of artists, been proclaimed "Producer of 2005" by Rolling Stone and is somehow wrapped up with all of that "Rock Star: Supernova" nonsense (though he doesn't have to sit there week after week next to a shirtless Dave Navarro-thank the maker!)

But Butch is out there right now doing his own thing with the help of backing band the Let's Go Out Tonites on The Rise and Fall of Butch Walker and.... The album, a slick, glammed up, party instigator is just the sort of thing to make people recognize Walker's talents as a performer. And it only reinforces the idea that, instead of finding some unknown yahoo to sing for Supernova (featuring rock "legends" Tommy Lee, Gilby Clarke and Jason Newsted), the band should have just persuaded Butch to do the honors. But for his sake, I suppose he's better being the guy behind the boards of this particular Hindenburg.

With a single, "Bethamphetamine (Pretty Pretty)," perking up the ears of radio listeners, it's a good bet Walker has a fighting chance on his own. The song is just one of the best singles of the year and walks that terrific line of being radio friendly while retaining a hard rock edge (think The Killers with a tighter crotch).

The whole album is highly reminiscent of David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders of Mars, intentionally so. Walker is singing about the perils of fame and money, as well as the dangers of falling into the rock and roll lifestyle. Having been around a bit, he may not be impervious to its trappings, but he at least recognizes them and tries to keep his head above water. With songs as good as these, he'll be swimming laps around his contemporaries in no time.