I Liked It Better When You Had No Heart

iTunes Review

Though his band Marvelous 3 only had sporadic success, Butch Walker has impacted popular music in a big way, producing hits for Avril Lavigne, Pink and Kate Perry. His own music is also highly cognizant of pop hooks and bright, punchy productions designed to stick to radio waves. “Pretty Melody” begins things with an orchestral joust that sounds like Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound broken into little pieces. “She Likes Hair Bands” sounds like a rocker you might hear from Uncle Kracker with its tightly produced street strut highlighting Walker’s quick backwards glance at a long-gone era. “Don’t You Think Someone Should Take You Home” is a masterful last-call barroom ballad, while “Trash Day” comes close to a roots-rocker but always with Walker’s extra spit-shine and layer of electrified guitar. Walker’s such a natural in the recording studio that what often sounds like it should take months is probably just a toss-off for a guy this talented. Where other songwriters struggle to find the hook, Walker trips over them on the way to the mixing board.