Butch Walker And The Let’s Go Out Tonites

The Rise And Fall Of Butch Walker And The Let’s Go Out Tonites

[3/5] It’s becoming quite clear that if Butch Walker could build a time machine and beam himself back to the ’70s, he’d be the happiest musician alive. After channeling his inner Cheap Trick with a couple of power-pop-heavy solo discs, he’s now splashed on the glitter and cranked up the swagger with this glam-rock homage, replete with with a David Bowie-esque album title. Crunchy riffs and angelic harmonies on the T. Rex doppelganger “Hot Girls In Good Moods” might make the lawyers for Marc Bolan’s estate all litigious, while elsewhere, schmaltzy ballads and posing rockers find Walker nailing the alien (and alienated) falsetto David Bowie perfected during his ’70s heyday. But as Walker’s m.o., he takes a wry, tongue-in-cheek approach to the disc’s glammy lyrics. Some of this wit is irritatingly precious (guess what makes “Song w/o A Chorus” special), but he nails the vapid trust-fund club culture on the stardust strut “Too Famous To Get Fully Dressed.” Fun, but not to be taken seriously. (POWERBALLD/EPIC) Annie Zaleski