Butch Walker and The Black Widows – The Spade (Dangerbird / Fontana North)

Unfortunately, Butch Walker is better known as a music producer of artists more than he is for his own solo work, which is really a shame. Over the span of his six solo efforts since 2002, he has worn many different musical hats all to modest degrees of success. But what I feel really helps this newest effort stand out is the fact that the material contained on the record features some of his most fleshed out songs and ideas that he has put on record so far. This is not a slight against his past work by any means; there simply seems to be many brighter moments on The Spade that result in a more satisfying and gratifying listen from start to finish. Stand out tracks include the tongue-in-cheek Summer of 89, Every Single Body Else, the roosty Dublin Crow and the hard-rockin’ Bullet Belt.