Pull up the Builders and the Butchers’ MySpace page, and you’ll see that the Portland, Ore.-based outfit describes its sound as, “singing and shouting with guitar, bass, mandolin, banjo, accordion, drums, xylophone, bells and washboard.” Over on CD Baby, the band’s self-titled 2007 debut is summarized as “Tom Waits gospel songs about despair and redemption.” Put it all together, and you’ve got a pretty decent handle on what the Builders and the Butchers do, though it takes actually seeing and/or hearing the band in action to fully appreciate the Southern Gothic/Mad Hatter genius of it all. The band started as a country/gospel/blues side project for Ryan Sollee, of the Alaskan rock ’n’ roll band the Born Losers. But there’s nothing about the Builders’ second album, this April’s Salvation is a Deep Dark Well, that sounds like a casual artistic tangent: Sure, it feels freewheelin’, but rest assured, it takes serious focus to build music this deceptively ramshackle, even when all the songs are born off the cuff, be it onstage or in rehearsal.
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