butterfly child | onomatothingy

most of my vinyl collection is all about nostalgia. i don't mean it's full of tedious sixties throwbacks or tribute bands. i mean i rarely buy vinyl any more unless it's second hand, so the majority are records purchased when i was a teenager. of course most people's teens are both traumatic and exciting in different ways. for me a big part of it was discovering this thing called indie music, a beast whose every grunt seeped into my every pore via weekly doses of nme and melody maker.

and naturally those days are long gone. i'm older and predictably more cynical. the music press no longer holds any sway over what records i buy. but back then if they gave a ride album 10/10 then i'd rush out and buy it.

but i first heard about butterfly child from a fanzine called kerosene, which had lots of grainy pictures of tons of bands i'd never heard of, playing venues i'd never been to. and butterfly child was one of them. they sounded intriguing, essentially the ethereal project of a guy called joe, with links to an even more mysterious group called papa sprain.

these days, records by both bands aren't that easy to get hold of, especially the latter (for which look out for a future post). so here's the opening three songs from butterfly child's debut album, onomatopoeia, on dedicated records. i reckon they're a pretty good encapsulation of his approach: swooning, layered pop that's fit to burst your heart, combined with an otherworldly experimentalism.

i've always seen both butterfly child and papa sprain as part of the uk's far more experimental version of post rock - bands like ar kane, insides, moonshake, bark pyschosis and disco inferno - none of whom were seemingly afraid to "push the boundaries" in order to recreate the sounds they hear in their heads.

and every time ave furs it's way out of the speakers I'm transported back to those less cynical days.

::: ave
::: our lady mississipp
::: lunar eclipse

butterfly child on epitonic
read an interview with joe cassidy