Word: basses
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Buttercup plays in and around the Boston area and their label Orr Records is located downtown on Lincoln Street. The lineup is pretty straight forward. Jim Buni and Mike Leahy take care of vocal and guitar-playing duties, and share the singing with Colleen MacDonald, who also plays bass. Dan Lech provides the backbone of the band on drums. What distinguishes Buttercup from run-of-the-mill alternapoppers is Tim Obetz's slide guitar playing. The full-bodied twang he evokes from the instrument superbly compliments Buni and Leahy's guitar work, but Obetz often plays the melody. This gives...
...Buttercup, and the band never let the songs, none of which runs longer than three minutes and 45 seconds, escape their tight control. The band showcases a well-honed sense of melody, holding the accompaniment in check to let the vocals and lead guitar reign free. The drums, bass and rhythm guitar remain tasteful throughout, while the vocals and lead and slide guitars bear the burden of melody making...
...Seaside Weekend," a hard-driving and energetic pop rock ditty, displays the band's playful side. Right away the tune hooks the listener in, not wasting time with polite introductions. The tune starts with bass and drums grooving hard underneath an enchanting slide guitar melody, injecting the tune with a longing sadness. The rest of "Seaside Weekend" seems like an exercise in controlled anger: beneath the carefree melody the chords are dark and help convey the sad regret implicit in the lyrics. The verse is restrained and Buni's vocals do most of the work. But at the chorus...
Both the soprano and bass parts contain a great deal of extremely demanding coloratura, vocal play and lengthy runs, reminiscent of the earliest tenor and bass airs in Part I of Handel's Messiah. These passages, like nearly all of the piece, were executed masterfully. Saffer in particular seemed the very bird described by her lines, "Sweet bird,.../ Most musical, most melancholy,/ Thee, chantress of the woods among,/ I woo to hear thy even song." Saffer's song floated through incredible trills and arpeggios which spanned several octaves without the slightest hint of effort. The choir, though little utilized...
...diversity of color and texture from the instrument. Perhaps one of the most dramatic works on the program, the piece's opening gestural fragments are later contrasted with homophonic and polyphonic textures. Arriving at a moving climax, Kissel superimposed complex passage work over a furiously pounded drone in the bass...