It is always the best music that defies easy categorization. Not because the music might be unfocused or too far out from the mainstream but because it often sounds like something that we haven’t experienced before. Meaning that it is hard to easily slot it into the existing musical landscape. And it doesn’t mean that such music is necessarily breaking new ground, not inventing new styles or trying to fuse genres in unexpected ways; often, it can be treading tried and tested paths but doing so with such deft steps, such unique sonic vision that while it might feel slightly familiar, it is also totally fresh. Such music leads rather than follows. Bones In Butter make such music.
Of course, trying to put an easy and catch-all label on this Serbian band, especially on their new album Songs For a Sane Society is fruitless, mainly because they have developed the ability to wander just far enough away from their alternative-pop-rock-indie sound, but not too far. But even though they explore far and wide, their songs seem to be cohesive, always sounding like the product of the same band. And that is the art of it: push sonic boundaries but retain your musical personality.
And so, for every song like “They Live!” which prowls menacingly around a rhythmic rock landscape, all muscle and melody, groove and grit, there are chiming and almost balladic indie numbers like “A Dystopian Love Song.” For every deftly spun, singer-songwriter-infused song like “Never Without You,” there are the cavernous noise-scapes of “Stop Dancing Now,” a song that comes on like a 60’s psychedelic sci-fi soundtrack that just seemed to get a bit out of control.
Songs For A Sane Society is a wild ride with fourteen unique songs, pushing in all manner of musical directions while feeling like a cohesive collection of music. A bit of something for everyone? Certainly. But if you are a discerning music fan, an aficionado of original, forward-thinking music, you will love every moment. Play it and tell me I’m wrong. I dare you!
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