14 years and 8 albums into his solo career, Butch Walker, the former singer/songwriter for Marvelous 3, is still finding himself. Typically a lively and loud artist, Stay Gold, his newest release, is somewhat of a rebound album after his dreary yet infinitely personal Afraid of Ghosts. You probably don’t know who I’m talking about, but it’s likely that you’ve heard a handful, if not dozens, of songs Walker has been instrumental in creating (ha, pun intended).
Walker is better known for his production skills. Katy Perry, Fall Out Boy, Gavin Degraw, Avril Lavigne, Train, Lit, The Wombats, Dashboard Confessional, The Maine, Weezer and Pink are just a few of the artists that he has helped produce and the list grows longer every year. He’s respected across the industry and has helped shape a sizable cross section of modern pop music from the background.
However, Butch as a solo artist, has never cracked the top 100 albums, and his songs don’t chart in the top 40. After Marvelous 3’s break-up, Walker emerged from the great music business crash of the aughts through small record deals and a real do-it-yourself attitude to writing and production. He’s ridden that train for over a decade and amassed quite a following using little more than grassroots campaigns.
Where does Stay Gold rank amongst his best? That’s hard to say. Walker has been evolving slightly with every release and Stay Gold is his most blue collar, heartland rockinest album yet. To compare it to the power pop of Letters and Left of Self-Centered would be doing it a dis-service. There’s a confidence in the songwriting on Stay Gold that comes from being a veteran in an incredibly hard field, but that confidence is balanced with a Walker’s ever deepening sense of exploration.
Songs like Stay Gold, Mexican Coke and East Coast Girl shine with his trademark snark, and Record Store and Descending show off his ballad storytelling, so fans of Walker will likely find something to their liking. He’s been toying with Country music for a while now and it seems that the more time he spends in Nashville the more it can be heard in his tone and delivery. The more twang inspired songs doesn’t necessarily hurt the album, it’s just a noticeable shift.
Walker has always had a raw feel to his studio work and Stay Gold is no different. Many of the songs sound like they were written to be played live. Afraid of Ghost, was a personal album, whose tone was heavily inspired by the death of his dad. Stay Gold’s personal story is that of reminiscence. Walker sounds like a man that has more stories than time to tell them. At his age and with his experience, it’s probably true. If Stay Gold is the mantra for this album, Walker hit the nail on the head.
Probably the most off-putting part of Stay Gold is Walker’s vocals at times sounding like a Springsteen impression. It’s a common thread through the album that is jarring at first. As the songs grow on you, it becomes less apparent, but it doesn’t seem as if he’s hiding his influences very well this time around. Overall though, Stay Gold is a solid and more importantly refreshing release that feels like an event. Much like when The Spade was released in 2011, Stay Gold sounds and feels like a tiny step closer to mainstream success.
Verdict: Stay Gold is Walker’s best work in years. Maybe not a “must listen”, but definitely a “worth you time” release.