Gutbucket makes a modest proprosal
Kimberly Harrison
Issue date: 5/8/09 Section: A&E
Gutbucket has something to offer to every open-minded listener. Their music exists at the juncture between jazz, rock, punk, classical and avante garde, and doesn't even stop there. It is clear that they are picking and choosing from a smorgasbord of sonic delights, confirmed by Thomson, "when we are all together, we rarely agree on music we like to listen to. In the van, it really just runs the gamut of any kind of music that you can imagine." Combining so many different elements can harm a band striving for a solid, homogenous sound, but that is not much of a concern for Gutbucket. For Gutbucket, the basis of their sound lies in their ability to constantly change and not feel restricted by musical assumptions.
A Modest Proposal
A Modest Proposal, Gutbucket's fourth studio album, marks another chapter in the band's 10-year history. As a band that adapts to new styles as often as they change meters in their music, Thomson revealed that, "at some point we try to document a period by putting a record out." Therefore, a new record isn't only a culmination of the band's hard work, but, more significantly, a benchmark in the band's ongoing musical saga. With that in mind, it is interesting, and fitting, to examine how the band has evolved between records.
The most notable change on this album is the inclusion of several slower songs. Thomson explained the reasoning behind pulling back on the reins: "With Adam [Gold] joining the band on drums (and he's been in the band a couple of years now) there were some things that we felt like we were inspired to do, like doing things that are slower. On this record is more stuff that actually is not at a break-neck pace the whole time. That's also something that was kind of exciting for us to explore." On A Modest Proposal, the true surprise is the presence of those slow songs, which were few and far between on previous albums.
Three out of four members of Gutbucket are active composers for the project. Ken Thomson ranked the prominence of each composing member: "The biggest writer for Gutbucket is Eric [Rockwin] our bassist. He is incredibly prolific and he just goes through these spurts where, in a month, he'll push out like five or six tunes or something like that," which the band then has to work through; "our second biggest writer is Ty [Citerman], our guitarist, and I'm the third biggest writer in Gutbucket." Each composer has refined his individual style to the point that, "the three of us are getting more and more distinct as songwriters," said Thomson, who is now able to identify the composer just by hearing one of Gutbucket's pieces.
A Modest Proposal
A Modest Proposal, Gutbucket's fourth studio album, marks another chapter in the band's 10-year history. As a band that adapts to new styles as often as they change meters in their music, Thomson revealed that, "at some point we try to document a period by putting a record out." Therefore, a new record isn't only a culmination of the band's hard work, but, more significantly, a benchmark in the band's ongoing musical saga. With that in mind, it is interesting, and fitting, to examine how the band has evolved between records.
The most notable change on this album is the inclusion of several slower songs. Thomson explained the reasoning behind pulling back on the reins: "With Adam [Gold] joining the band on drums (and he's been in the band a couple of years now) there were some things that we felt like we were inspired to do, like doing things that are slower. On this record is more stuff that actually is not at a break-neck pace the whole time. That's also something that was kind of exciting for us to explore." On A Modest Proposal, the true surprise is the presence of those slow songs, which were few and far between on previous albums.
Three out of four members of Gutbucket are active composers for the project. Ken Thomson ranked the prominence of each composing member: "The biggest writer for Gutbucket is Eric [Rockwin] our bassist. He is incredibly prolific and he just goes through these spurts where, in a month, he'll push out like five or six tunes or something like that," which the band then has to work through; "our second biggest writer is Ty [Citerman], our guitarist, and I'm the third biggest writer in Gutbucket." Each composer has refined his individual style to the point that, "the three of us are getting more and more distinct as songwriters," said Thomson, who is now able to identify the composer just by hearing one of Gutbucket's pieces.
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