The Coral - Butterfly House (2010)

[Viero_Berlotti]

Anyone else been impressed/unimpressed by this yet?

For me it's a real return to form and probably the most accomplished album they have recorded to date, with no small thanks to John Leckie on production duties. As you'd expect, they've not pushed many musical boundaries with this. However they've really nailed that lush 1960's west-coast psychedelia sound, and the songwriting is top-notch too. I've listened to it about a dozen times now and there isn't a duff number on there. It's all nicely understated as well, like an album of b-sides, that are actually better than the a-sides. Did I mention the John Leckie production? Yes I did, but I will mention it again, it is lush, lush, lush. This album comes at a great time for them too, their last release being a singles collection which is usually the sign that a band's creativity is in decline.

I've been sniggered at on here before for liking The Coral, but I'll stick to my guns on this one, Butterfly House is the best British album I've heard so far in 2010.

[purlieu]

I'm really hesitant to get it, having only liked three songs on the last album (and then realising that Put The Sun Back is almost note-for-note identical to my favourite song on The Invisible Invasion), and reading that it continues their more laid back acoustic direction which I don't think worked for them at all.  I might make a purchase if I find a cheap copy somewhere!

[Steven]

As a La's obsessive, listened to a few of these tracks, never been too interested in the Coral. Most of their good tracks are exact ripoffs of others songs, example Pass It On = You Like Me Too Much by Georgie Harrison.

Only gave a shit because Leckie was the third party from La's intrigue days, listening to a couple of tracks I don't understand where this whole 60s west coast vibe is coming from, I'm not hearing any of that, it's very digitial and overpolished, and there's zero bite to it. And as always their songs just go the way you expect them to do from the initial seed probably nicked from a Pebbles boxset, the melodies are just so pedestrian its a joke.

Sorry to be so seemingly nasty, but I love this style of music and the Coral are total fucking fakes with seemingly nothing to add.

[El Unicornio, mang]

I like them, they do rip-off a lot of stuff quite blatantly but I always thought of them as being like a cartoon band, playing music in the background of a Scooby Doo episode that's set at a haunted amusement park or something. Not a band I could ever "seriously dig" but I can enjoy putting on a couple of their albums on a long road trip.

[purlieu]

The self-titled album and Nightfreak I thought were marvellous fun, some obvious points of reference, and although it's not original, I really enjoy the constantly skipping from genre to genre mid-song on the debut, all done in genuine good spirit.  The Barrett-esque Simon Diamond seems like a loving nod to the influence rather than a direct tip, for example.  Magic & Medicine I thought was a bit dull but their folkier side worked ok.  I thought Portishead did a great job on The Invisible Invasion which I find a genuinely chilling album at times, particularly Far From The Crowd and Late Afternoon.
Roots & Echoes I thought was largely poor, though.  As others have said, it just seemed like really blatant ripoffs rather than slightly twisted homages.  The track I've heard from this new one falls into that camp too.  A shame, really.

[Steven]

Yeah I'm sorry, I really don't like to be negative about this kind of music. I remember listening to Pass It On for example on a loop for ages until it clicked what it reminded me of.

I did listen to their early stuff too but it was very La's influenced with the sea-shanty beat and tone, it was practically a love letter to Mavers.

I did post on the La's thread here earlier, but I had the earliest independant site about The La's though I think it's been taken down now, including a tab website I did myself. And that's what I think the Coral are, wannabes totally. But I can't blame them as I play a few Mavers tunes on my acoustic every time I have a few drinks, they're just unavoidable by spiritual proxy.

I Am Kloot also reigned on the same La's sort of legend shit. I probably said this before on the La's thread but, as talented as Lee was, he's a total scaredy cat in being defined - as in giving everyone a benchmark to judge him. And he looks and sounds so fucked now I doubt we're ever going to hear his best stuff, which is really, really sad.

[purlieu]

Y'know, I've never properly listened to the La's.  Does their stuff have the same all-over-the-shop nature of the early Coral?  Slow songs that go into mad ska bits and stuff?

[lipsink]

Y'know, I've never properly listened to the La's.  Does their stuff have the same all-over-the-shop nature of the early Coral?  Slow songs that go into mad ska bits and stuff?

Nope, not really. I think that's The Coral's 'Captain Beefheart' influence coming in, along with a big bag of other 60s stuff that I can't quite place right now.

I like The Coral and I loved their first album. Sadly I never got around to their other stuff but I might give it a go now.

[Viero_Berlotti]

I think it's a tad harsh to write The Coral off as The La's wannabes. If they truly wanted to be like The La's they would have jacked it in after the first album. The La's had their chance and blew it, but for some reason they are mythologised and regarded as some kind of great 'lost band'.

Rather than being a derivative of The La's I think The Coral picked up where they left off, and this new album sees them maturing and further finding their own voice. I'd even say that musically they've surpassed what The La's achieved.

Butterfly House has been criticized for lacking the urgency and quirkiness of their earlier albums, but if they'd produced an album full of tracks like Skeleton Key and Simon Diamond they'd have been criticized for being lazy and trying to replicate earlier success.

I think a lot of the mediocre reviews are based on only one or two listens at most, which is fair enough as you can't expect reviewers to wait a couple of months until they review a new album. I didn't think much of it after my first listen, but subsequently it has grown on me and that's down to the beautifully layered production that bares fruit with repeated listens.

[CaledonianGonzo]

A couple of folk I know are raving about this album, so it has piqued my interest in The Coral for the first time in years.  Not enough to actually listen to it yet - but, y'know, I might.

[purlieu]

Nope, not really. I think that's The Coral's 'Captain Beefheart' influence coming in, along with a big bag of other 60s stuff that I can't quite place right now.

I like The Coral and I loved their first album. Sadly I never got around to their other stuff but I might give it a go now.

Try Nightfreak and the Sons of Becker, it really is marvellous fun.

[lipsink]

Is the new album similar to when Super Furry Animals kind grew up with 'Phantom Power'. That's not a bad album but it makes me miss the more crazy eclectic elements of SFA. I haven't listened to much of their stuff after that, did they chill out from there on?

[Steven]

Nope, not really. I think that's The Coral's 'Captain Beefheart' influence coming in, along with a big bag of other 60s stuff that I can't quite place right now.

I like The Coral and I loved their first album. Sadly I never got around to their other stuff but I might give it a go now.

Yeah I'd agree with that. Though the La's were massively into Beefheart too as the guy who started the band bumped into him in the Liverpool gallery without knowing who he was, but that doesn't come across in their later music when Mavers took over. In fact I couldn't really place an influence on Mavers' style of writing.. probably Beatlesy/Stonesey tunes with Bo Diddley rhythm or something?

The Coral and a few other bands seem to have picked up this sort of scouse sea-shanty raggea rhythm thing which I associate with the La's though they only probably used it in about 2 songs, Over and Freedom Song. I did have the Coral's first EP a long time ago and heard various stuff they've put out, likeable enough but I've never heard anything that sparks originality or genius. I'll give a few more tracks off this latest release a listen and see, I was just slightly annoyed that the production was being promoted as West Coast 60s style when it doesn't sound anything like it to me.

[Steven]

Y'know, I've never properly listened to the La's.  Does their stuff have the same all-over-the-shop nature of the early Coral?  Slow songs that go into mad ska bits and stuff?

I'll probably be massively indulgent later and post up a load of links. Though Lee Mavers' attitude kind of pisses me off, the music still gives me tingles.

[Viero_Berlotti]

I was just slightly annoyed that the production was being promoted as West Coast 60s style when it doesn't sound anything like it to me.

So in your opinion what is 'West Coast 60's' style? And how does it differ from Butterfly House which has been described as having a West Coast 1960's sound?

[CaledonianGonzo]

Is the new album similar to when Super Furry Animals kind grew up with 'Phantom Power'. That's not a bad album but it makes me miss the more crazy eclectic elements of SFA. I haven't listened to much of their stuff after that, did they chill out from there on?

Not really. 

'Love Kraft' was pretty mellow in a slightly different fashion (more Rhodesy/Canterbury-style funk music), but both 'Hey Venus!' and 'Dark Days/Light Years' are quite up-beat and jaunty, again with slightly different sounds (Fuzzy Logic-style pop for the former, Krautrocky-style grooves for the latter).

Though to be honest, I've never really looked at 'Phantom Power' as a 'growing up' record.  To me, it has a distinctly more youthful and carefree 'vibe' than the often-soporific 'DRATW'.

[Steven]

So in your opinion what is 'West Coast 60's' style? And how does it differ from Butterfly House which has been described as having a West Coast 1960's sound?

That's bloody hard to put into words.

I just listened to this to get an idea about all the songs on the album:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8N2YuBKMZ2s

I can see what they mean by saying about the West Coast sound, but that's more in the songwriting style, the actual production doesn't really pull it off which is a key aspect of stuff like The Beach Boys. Leckie produced a version of the La's album and some of it sounds naff but he did a great job on Feelin' (Alternate Version) that was released as a B-side, sounds straight out of the 1950s.

http://rapidshare.com/files/412356162/La_s_-_01_-_Feelin___Alternate_Version_.mp3

I can't really put a finger on the 'West Coast Sound' but something obvious like the intro to Good Vibrations gives me shivers..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCeD_6Y3GQc

[purlieu]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8N2YuBKMZ2s

God, the first two songs there are almost identical.

Those clips certainly confirm my suspicions.  They all sound exactly like everything off the last album, and the slower tracks from Magic & Medicine and The Invisible Invasion.  Nothing on that video stood out as sounding... well, different to anything else on the video.  The first three, and to a lesser extent, the fourth album were very distinctive, even on a song-by-song basis.  I'm not going to rule out that as a full album it does something else, but those clips certainly make the album sound really quite samey and just later-day Coral on autopilot.

[thehungerartist]

I thought the new one was a mild disappointment (however I wasn't expecting much from it anyway); it becomes apparent with each release that Ian Broudie producing the band's best work (The Coral, Nightfreaks and Magic and Medicine) was no coincidence.  I still rate those first two records and there's no denying they're a great singles band but Skelly and co. aren't even bothering to hide their 'homages' any more, Noel Gallagher-style.  With Butterfly House you can tick the influences off as they come along, it's all so predictable.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFoEN9_SNko

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5WLcJ40LzQ

I've seen them live quite a few times since they first appeared and they're either woeful or very good.  Mostly the former.

As for The La's comparisons, fair play to Mavers he had The Coral pegged from the start, slating them to anyone who'd listen and I have to say he was right: bad rip-off merchants.  The hypocrisy of Lee Mavers getting sniffy about other bands daring to raid the Sixties is tempered by the fact he could turn those influences into magical songs like Feelin', Liberty Ship and that one off the DFS adverts.  That record has been a huge influence on Liverpool bands (mainly the bad ones) for twenty years and - for better or worse - helped Oasis become what they were.  What has The Coral's entire oeuvre given us?  Some decent singles and the Arctic fucking Monkeys.

Bill Ryder-Jones is a fantastic guitarist, however.

[El Unicornio, mang]

Although I love The La's, I have to say that Mavers gets on my nerves a bit going on about other bands. At least the Coral have put some studio albums out there, instead of just playing really awful sounding versions of the same 12 songs for the past 24 years.

[Steven]

Bleh...

Thanks for that, that's such a fucking blatant steal really isn't it? I think all good musicians 'steal' stuff they like but there's a thought-process behind it - they will change it a bit so it becomes something different or even better. The Beatles did this all the time but never really got any flack from it because they were smart about it, I mean the blatancy of them playing a rocked up version of 'When The Saints Go Marching In' in the Hamburg days and just fitting over some new lyrics and naming it 'I Saw Her Standing There' is about as audacious as it comes but it fucking works.

The Coral track is just thoughtless steal of that Big Star song, and thanks for reminding me of Big Star - that's more what the production sounds like to me. Much more early 70s mellow rock like production and songs than 60s West Coast.