Kaitlin Butts- Roadrunner!
Label: Soundly
Producer: Oran Thornton
On her 2022 critical breakthrough, What Else Can She Do, Kaitlin Butts emerged as a fiery, shit-kicking, neo-traditional vixen to watch within the independent country scene. The arrival of its follow-up project, Roadrunner! immediately reveals that its predecessor was just barely scratching the surface in terms of illustrating both Butts’ devotion to honky tonk sounds and her bold stylistic vision. It’s a low-key conceptual record loosely based around the aesthetic of the classic Rodgers & Hammerstein musical, Oklahoma!, a trope charmingly illustrated by the vivid cover art, opening overture, and a cover of the soundtrack’s duet, “People Will Say We’re In Love” (sung here with husband Cleto Cordero). But the depth of this record is far richer than any of these moments could begin to suggest. Throughout the set, Butts balances everything from heart-wrenching originals (including a masterful Vince Gill feature) and spitfire anthems with a haunting, country-fried cover of Cher’s “Bang, Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)” and theatrical cowpoke vignettes like “Wild Juanita’s Cactus Juice”. It isn’t difficult to reimagine this as what Kacey Musgraves follow-up to Pageant Material/A Very Kacey Christmas could have been had she doubled down on the spirit of those albums, rather than bestowing us with the cosmopolitan wonders of Golden Hour. Like Musgraves, Butts has the uncanny ability to imbue her music with kitsch and novelty without ever sacrificing its intelligence. And on the drop of a dime, she can channel everything from the twangiest moments of Lee Ann Womack (“Spur”, y’all? Wow!) to the chilling, noir-istic Western rock of an alt-dynamo like Tami Neilson. Meanwhile, “Followed You to Vegas” screams as a suitable prequel to George & Tammy’s “Golden Ring”, and it immediately follows a fantastic curation of Kesha’s 2017 country-influenced gem, “Hunt You Down”. All of these diversely vintage and modern influences notwithstanding, her work never once sounds derivative, but rather completely fresh and original. That she can so seamlessly be so many different things all at once is precisely what makes Butts such a fascinating artist, and likewise makes Roadrunner! one of the most thrilling records in the current musical landscape. Its indy status will inevitably make it one of the year’s most overlooked gems in the music mainstream, but does nothing to deny its identity as one of the year’s surefire classics. Every spin will leave you endlessly entertained, and undeniably intrigued for what Kaitlin Butts will cook up next.
Track Listing:
- “Overture: My New Life Starts Today” (Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II)
- “Roadrunner” (Kaitlin Butts)
- “Other Girls (Ain’t Havin’ Any Fun)” (Butts, Natalie Hemby)
- “Wild Juanita’s Cactus Juice” (Butts)
- “Soliloquy: Out of My Dreams” (Butts)
- “Come Rest Your Head (On My Pillow)” featuring Vince Gill (Butts)
- “People Will Say We’re In Love” featuring Cleto Cordero (Rodgers, Hammerstein II)
- “Buckaroo” (Butts)
- “That’ll Never Be Me” (Butts, Angaleena Presley)
- “Spur” (Butts, Megan James)
- “If I Can’t Have You” (Butts)
- “Bang, Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)” (Sonny Bono)
- “You Ain’t Gotta Die (To Be Dead to Me)” (Butts, Hemby)
- “Like I Should” (Butts)
- “Hunt You Down” (Kesha, Rick Nowels)
- “Followed You to Vegas” (Butts)
- “Elsa” (Butts, Courtney Patton, Jimmie Davis)
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