Bread & Butter have always turned back the
clock. Last year's self-titled debut LP on Killroom Records
was Seattle's summer soundtrack, and the boys brought the "feel good"
party vibes to Concerts at the Mural the year before. Today, they give
us a taste of new music with the single "Banana O'Clock" and its fantastical video, directed by Cody Hurd.
The band's too-cool-for-school, smokin'-in-the-boys-room, laid-back
guitar rock has always taken listeners back to the '70s/early-'80s
power-pop scene of bands like Cheap Trick and The Knack. With the video,
the fun-lovin' nostalgia continues. Styled after retro children's shows
like H.R. Pufnstuf and The Banana Splits (natch), the
guys perform against a psychedelic backdrop with a, um, fruitful
conclusion. Bread & Butter drummer Mason Lowe talked to us about the
band's trippy transformation.
KEXP: How would you describe the song?
Mason: Musically, we always try to keep things simple. With this
song, we've gone one step further. We've gone from "simple" to
"aggressively stupid." Lyrically, it's in deep bonehead territory. The
chorus is, "Banana o'clock, banana o'clock, b-b-b-b-b banana o'clock."
The words are so dumb, they make "Louie Louie" sound like some Leonard
Cohen "Bird on a Wire" biz in comparison. It's catchy though!
What time is Banana O'Clock?
It has no set hour. Banana O'Clock starts when it's time to go
bananas and it ends when... I guess it ends when you're out of
bananas?
The world is pretty dang bananas these days. We are living in
bananical times. Everyone's earned the right to take a 3-minute break
from worrying about the unraveling of Western culture and indulge in
some dumb fun rock and roll.
Not to put too fine a point on it, Banana O'Clock is not 4:20. Unless that's what gets you through your banana day!
What's up with the video?
Just four good friends, frolicking in a 'shroomed-out cartoon world
where it rains bananas. Also, we sent Lars [Swenson, guitarist] to
space. Like most astronauts, he returned to earth with a profound sense
of connection with nature and humankind.
Our friend Cody Hurd directed the video. He already did
two rad videos for us and we love him. When we first talked to Cody
about a video for "Banana O'Clock," the concept we wanted was a barbecue
in space. Cody said, "OK, but if that means spaceships that are just
cardboard boxes wrapped in tinfoil, then I'm out." So we went back to
drawing board!
We decided if we couldn't have a barbecue in space, then an
inappropriately trippy '70s kids show theme song vibe was what we
wanted.
Lars reached out to hella-talented designer Devi Pellerin. After a
surprisingly productive 15-beer dinner, Cody, Devi, and Lars hashed out
the shape of the video. Devi designed the sets and did the animation.
Cody and an amazing crew made it all work. We shot the video at the
Killroom Studio, the same room where we recorded the song!
What's in the future for Bread & Butter?
We're taking a couple months off because our singer and bass player
Shane and his wife Maria (who sings and plays bass for our label-mates Acapulco Lips)
are going to have a baby in the next couple weeks. Not just any baby,
the best-singing, best bass-playing Seattle rock and roll baby! We want
to give Shane some time to be with family and learn how to dad without
his burnout buddies dragging him off to play sweaty clubs.
Future plans are moving forward! We are already working on album #2
for Killroom Records: writing, demo-ing, even making proper studio
recordings. We plan to be back in the swing of things this autumn.
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