photo by Rick Perez
Step into the "Clementine" EP ( InFiné ) by Brooklyn based Bottler and you might be emotionally and musically torn in two. Musicians Pat Butler and Phil Shore from the onset (on Nobody) create an intro that pushes eerie vintage buttons on dark ambient tones and almost dissonant acoustic piano but then feels organic (from the evocative Fender Rhodes sounds) but quickly falls into synthwave grooves that start blooming with color and a beat. When you hear children repeating "you don't really / / -- nobody likes me, everybody hates me" in a mantric way, it feels like dark theater, like a dystopian "it's a hard knock life".
It then moves into When I Don't Think Of You and the tone is set. Dark future images begin to appear. The title is a bit oxymoronic and made me smile as it is an obsessive statement that is couched in self denial, like those acquaintances who say, "Oh, I'm not a racist". The song is utterly dance-able within it's dark tones and quirky rubber band synth melodies. It feels like a chill, yet dark banger at a rave.
Day Sleeper Peace Keeper pushes imaginary long distance memory buttons and has a really pretty slow ascension. Cinematic from the start, dreamy but you get the feeling it can fall off an emotional cliff at any moment. The core, guitar picked melodies and background haunting voices (maybe vocoder, maybe not) on top of a very chill but slow burn beat is very engaging. The boys shut down sounds and bring them up, introduce new musical diversions like open doors to peak in. It is instrumental (except for those distant voices) and captivating.
The last track Weekend has to be described in terms of it's marriage to it's Official Video created / directed by New York based artist, Dylan Goodsell. From the utterly creepy film like intro which feels like a blend or animation (and possibly altered roto-scoping) I caught so many old school tinges to John Carpenter (specifically "They Live" 1988), otherworldly horror elements in that H.P. Lovecraft sort of way. I thought of David Cronenberg, (Videodome) and even Fritz Lang's "Metropolis" (1927) and while I don't know what was in Goodsell's brain, the video is stunningly engaging, fun and fits the song like an alien glove. Goodsell's collab with Bottler conjure fear based mind control that turns into alien infections. I hate, hate to connect this artful creation to what is happening right now in the midst of a Pandemic but fear and how it makes us vulnerable to being manipulated is the most virulent strains of darkness we, as humans, have to fight against. It always has been and is more deadly than any virus.
Of the video and the song, the band shares:
"Weekend" was directed by New York-based artist, Dylan Goodsell. A grimy blend of lo-fi cyberpunk and cosmic horror aesthetics, "Weekend" tells the tale of a small-town cult and their on-air figurehead as they open a rift to another realm. Taking influence from old-school horror - namely the works of directors like John Carpenter and David Lynch - "Weekend" drew inspiration from the often surreal nature of public-access television production, as well as the idea of someone using their platform to perpetuate fear. Finding a way to visualize this paranoia was key in shaping the world in which the video takes place.
Apart from shades of horror, Weekend as a song might feel like the most art rockish on this EP, with guitars and sound like synths and vice versa and pretty and dreamy vox that feel a bit more pop forward, there is a sultry dark stride here. I did flash on Depeche Mode and Garbage (and even Muse a bit). There is a poised arm stretched theatricality here, a true sense of make believe. Maybe it is a perfect, hopeful way to end "Clementine", a way to tell us all that the dystopian nightmare is not here... not yet.
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Robb Donker Curtius
THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM - PRESS NOTES:
Bottle is signed to InFiné, the International & eclectic music label based in Paris and Berlin. Created by Alexandre Cazac and Yannick Matray in 2006, to pulse with love & passion, projects from all over the world.
Bottler is the duo of Brooklyn musicians Pat Butler and Phil Shore. As lifelong friends, their creative bond is one forged in a partnership of musical exploration. Their continuous discovery of electronic, indie rock, and classical converges as Bottler.
Sonically, Bottler represents a new step toward musical freedom. They’re inspired to pursue every idea and dance across the thinly constructed boundaries of aesthetic. Free of a preoccupation with genre or form, they blend indie dance and electro pop with acoustic, digital, and analog instrumentation.
After forming and touring various musical projects for a decade, they settled down at the end of the 20-teens and founded Bottler. Inspired by the wide spectrum of sounds they would encounter in both the vibrant Brooklyn music scene and daily life, Bottler took care to craft a wholly unique style that was equal parts their past and their present. They are imbued with the music echoing off the walls of Brooklyn clubs like Good Room, Black Flamingo, Elsewhere, and Magick City. They spend countless hours crate digging at record shops like Academy Records, Captured Tracks and Rough Trade.
With all distractions set aside, they locked themselves in the studio with the unwavering devotion and intensity of their musical heroes like Depeche Mode, Nine Inch Nails, Bonobo, and Caribou. Shortly thereafter, they posted a two track demo online, and were quickly discovered by InFiné, who will release their first EP in 2020.
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