Children Of The Revolution

By Tankboy in Arts & Entertainment on Mar 10, 2009 3:45PM

Butch Walker is best known as a hot-shot producer to the stars. He's worked with Avril Lavigne, Katy Perry, Pink, Lindsay Lohan ... and so on. So you might be forgiven if you're a tad shocked to find out that the man also has a solo career fronting a decidedly backward looking glam-rock combo whose previous releases include an album that is actually titled The Rise and Fall of Butch Walker and the Let's-Go-Out-Tonites.

Let us preface what follows by saying we like Walker's solo stuff. We have a soft spot for the glam, and we dig swinging guitars, catchy bass lines, and nasal lyrical intonation. But Walker basically constructs his tunes like tinker toys, fitting the right pieces together without really creating anything new. It's one thing to pay homage to your influences, but Walker’s constructs fall pretty flat when compared to even the weaker pieces of the Marc Bolan catalog. The man is a technical master - and his ability to lift other’s work up to become extraordinary is undeniable - but when it comes to his own compositions it appears as if he could do with an outside party giving him feedback to strengthen the work. Regardless, we expect his show at House Of Blues tonight to be a hip-shaking good time.

Tonight openers The Films are basically guilty of the same modus operandi, but the end results are slightly more gratifying. They dig a little deeper and snag fragments of girl-group drums, R&B shouters and amphetamine fueled Northern Soul night, thus displaying a deeper grasp of what provided glam’s original pulse. Walker produced the group’s forthcoming disc, Oh, Scorpio, and the collaboration serves both parties well. Walker’s undeniable ear for editing and uncovering the hook merges well with the younger band’s enthusiasm to create an album that pays homage to a broader spectrum of influences with a surprising amount of originality.

We dig it.

Butch Walker and The Films both play tonight at House Of Blues, 329 N Dearborn, 7:30 p.m., $21, 17+

Photo of The Films by Sean McCabe from their MySpace