Tuesday, February 8, 2011

The LC's Local Band Showcase: Dumptruck Butterlips / Product of the Week: Boulevard Chocolate Ale

Perhaps most of you are unaware of the Replay's new Friday "matinee" series because it is unhip and, in recent weeks, seems to be catering to the bluegrassy/neo-hippie element that frequents the bar on summer Sunday afternoons. Despite our own hipster appearances (scruffy little beards and ever-present PBRs), we have always felt at home among such crowds, as we find them less pompous and more prone to playing shows that begin before midnight. So it was that we found ourselves in the audience last week for a gig by Dumptruck Butterlips, a band whose current incarnation (recently scaled down from a seven-piece) consists of one man (name of Dumptruck) and three attractive, self-decribed "hippie gypsy" women (one named Butterlips) who play accordion, stand-up bass, and wash-board and two of whom are professional hula-hoopers likely to treat you to a demonstration at some point in the set. (Chip: "It may have been the most sensual display of hula-hooping I have yet seen, and I've seen some sensual hula-hooping."). As for the music, it's a perfectly pleasant set alternating between folk and bluegrass and a little "blue-eyed soul," with many of the lyrics seemingly designed to give Chip a boner: one song rhymed "toke" with "a place to poke" (complete with a digression from Butterlips involving stained sheets) and another dealt with Dumptruck's plea for a woman to grab (or grind, we can't remember) his gearshift (Chip: "I totally caught his meaning. The gearshift was a metaphor for his dick.").

This Friday's matinee offers an appearance from the KC Bear Fighters, who seem able to blend the hippie and hipster elements more easily than most, and also a set from our friends in MAW. Consider going.

Here's a bad picture of Dumptruck Butterlips (probably taken by Chip):












---
If you're anything like us, your Valentine's Day plans consist primarily of getting hammered on Boulevard's new Chocolate Ale, a collaboration with renowned KC chocolatier Christopher Elbow and bottled as part of Boulevard's Smokestack Series. Ladies, we hope you prefer this to the traditional roses and box of heart-shaped chocolates, because it's what you're getting.


1 comment:

is that bass even mic'd? said...

You can also see Dumptruck Butterlips on occasion at The Jazzhaus' open mic night on Wednesdays. I'd say they are more interesting as a visual spectacle than an auditory one.