Drink Up Buttercup

Artist Information

Biography

Drink Up Buttercup DEBUT ALBUM OUT 3/23/2010 ON YEP ROC RECORDS

The twisted pop fracas that is Drink Up Buttercup, born in a barn and revealed to the public at a cigar parlor in rural Buck's County, PA in late 2007, coalesced when all four members turned their backs on their respective careers: James Harvey dropped a promising opera career to front the band, Mike Cammarata quit hustling 15 year olds out of their allowance in video arcades to get behind the drum kit, Farzad Houshiarnejad traded Persian rug sales for keyboards (sneaking out the back door of his fathers business with keys to the rug van they've traveled the length of the country in ever since), and Ben Money laid down his tools and union local membership to pound the bass & distorted organs.

Their songs are hyperbolic, folkloric metaphors with demented and neurotic central characters. Musically applying the aggressively weird attitude of bands like Of Montreal and Super Furry Animals to songwriting worthy of "the canon," they've created a distinct sound that has been described: "as if a Clockwork Orange's Alex DeLarge had been the fifth member of The Beatles."

Within a year of the band's inception, their first 7 inch "Mr. Pie Eyes" saw a release on UK tastemaker label Make Mine, creating a trans-Atlantic buzz. The blogs raved. Show-stealing sets at CMJ and South by Southwest boosted their ever-expanding notoriety. Ear Farm wrote, "Arms-folded New Yorkers, you've been warned twice: this band rules." The Deli Magazine named them Philly's best band of 2008. In April 2009 they released their second single "Farewell Captain" on Kanine Records (The label credited with discovering Grizzly Bear & Chairlift) ushering in more love from the likes of Stereogum and Pitchfork who said "They have a spinning circus vibe and shout out loud tendency a la Arcade Fire" and "Lumbering drums, jangling shakers, electronic squiggles and ragged shouts accompany the strutting bass line and stomping guitar in a way that's all just loose and playful enough to avoid coming across as overly nostalgic" and more opportunity to spread the word live, sharing the stage with the likes of Dr. Dog, Bishop Allen, The Fiery Furnaces, Tune-Yards, Clues, Marnie Stern & Free Energy.

A Drink Up Buttercup performance is really the story of survival: fretboards, drumsticks, elbows and trashcan lids thrash through the air and somehow the band narrowly avoids serious injury, the audience is left panting while newly converted journalists race to spread the good word. The Tripwire wrote during the CMJ 08 "Kicking off with my new favorite band, Drink Up Buttercup. They were so hard to categorize that I decided coin a term called carnival junkyard pop." The New York Times called their music "material that doesn't strive for radio-style catchiness but mesmerizes and clobbers live audiences instead...."

Elsewhere they have been called "a conglomeration of everything that is right with music." An accumulation of the last 18 months blood sweat and tears is expected in the coming weeks as they release their new single "Even Think" on October 13th, followed by their debut LP in early 2010, both through Yep Roc Records (Home to The Apples In Stereo & The Go-Betweens).

"Even Think," a fast-paced fist-pumper driven by frenzied organ arpeggios and swelling vocal harmonies reminiscent of the sound of Brian Wilson re-imagining The Velvet Underground's "White Light/White Heat" was recorded and mixed in less than 24 hours, in a basement under the influence of carbohydrates. Their first full-length Born and Thrown on a Hook was recorded by Philly's veritable go-to guy, Bill Moriarty (Dr. Dog, Man Man) and mixed by Rusty Santos (the man responsible for the sound of Panda Bears "album of the year" Person Pitch) From the manic carnival oom-pahs of "Sosie and Dosie" to the haunted ululations on "Maestro Monsignor," the album is a psychological journey from the pleasantly quirky to the deeply perverse and back again. As their name would suggest, Drink Up Buttercup is really about good times with bad intentions.

Instrumentation

Farzad Houshiarnejad; keys, wolf-howler, melodica, bass, vox, smashcan
Ben Money; bass, keys, melodica, mannequin head, percussion, vox, smashcan
Mike Cammarata; drums with water, lemon, and sugar packets
James Harvey; vox, guitar, sawed-off-seagull, walki, opera sounds

Discography

Even Think
Mr. Pie Eyes
Gods and Gentleman
Heavy Hand
Seasickness Pills
Sosey and Dosey
Farewell Captain

Audio

• Even Think
  Listen  
• Gods and Gentlemen
  Listen  
• Mr. Pie Eyes
  Listen  
• Even Think (Andrew WK Remix
  Listen  

Video

Photo Gallery

Press

• Deli Magazine Best Band 08
  

  http://www.thedelimagazine.com/philadelphia/bestofs/2008.php

• CMJ 2009
  

  "Psychedelic without being cheesy, this band sounds like a sinister carnival."

• New Music: Drink Up Buttercup: "Mr. Pie Eyes" [+ Show ]
  

  The butter wouldn't melt, so he put it in his pie eyes. Philly quartet Drink Up Buttercup build you ...The butter wouldn't melt, so he put it in his pie eyes. Philly quartet Drink Up Buttercup build you up with the post-Beatles harmonies of the La's and the post-Beatles surrealism of Electric Light Orchestra or Super Furry Animals on their rowdy rave-up of a single, "Mr. Pie Eyes". And not to let you down too much, either, even if they're not reinventing the wheel here. Lumbering drums, jangling shakers, electronic squiggles, and lots of whimsical, ragged shouts accompany the strutting bass line and stomping guitar. As with, say, Chicago indie-rockers the M's, it's all just loose and playful enough to avoid coming across as overly nostalgic. "Oh my goodness, Mr. Pie Eyes, have you lost your mind?"
  
  
  http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/download/147216-new-music-drink-up-buttercup-mr-pie-eyes-mp3-video

• Myspace Featured Artist
  

  Drink Up Buttercup Myspace Music featured artist week of Mr. Pie Eyes single release.

• Fame, Yes; Fortune, Not So Much [+ Show ]
  

  "Many musicians who strive to support themselves onstage are writing material that doesn’t strive ...
  "Many musicians who strive to support themselves onstage are writing material that doesn’t strive for radio-style catchiness but mesmerizes and clobbers live audiences instead, like Ponytail’s joyfully consonant guitar blare and whooping vocals, or the way Drink Up Buttercup bashed out its bouncy, oompahing songs on a much-dented garbage can."
  
  http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/27/arts/music/27cmj.html?ref=arts
  
  
  http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/10/27/arts/music/20081027_CMJ_2.html
  
  
  
  

• You'll Be Hearing From Them Soon [+ Show ]
  

  Drink Up Buttercup As soon as this Philly band started setting up their equipment, it was evident t...Drink Up Buttercup
  As soon as this Philly band started setting up their equipment, it was evident that it was going to be a spectacle. They brought their percussive instruments in a metal garbage can, which they then pummeled with their stomping, flailing psychedelic tunes. They have a great melodic sensibility, but they’re also in love with the glory of cacophony and audience interaction.

• ALMACK€™S DANCE HALL [+ Show ]
  

  "Center stage, mic is just over a foot off the ground, behind the low hung amplifier is a young scru..."Center stage, mic is just over a foot off the ground, behind the low hung amplifier is a young scruffy boy crouching over a silver, Oscar the Grouch trash can lid holding maracas. The music starts and he crashes the shaker into the lid like a kid with a spoon and drum kit of pots and pans. The chaos builds as the long legged bassist stomps with stage-long strides back and forth making it unclear who is the leader of the band. Three of the four Bucks County rockers sing and swap mics, instruments, and places on the stage - the hustle and movement creates excitement in the crowd who believe they may be called upon next to front the band - towards the end I was thrown a tambourine which I slinked away from in fear I would not be able to keep up with the spastic tempo changes.
  
  Drink Up Buttercup not only has a playful name, they have a playful stage show and sweet melodies doused in noisy stylings of trash can banging, passionate hand claps, and stage stomping that counters the strong pop songs with a jagged edge - The Beatles in a blender.
  
  "Gods and Gentlemen" THE tune off the group's EP and the showstopper of the night brings to mind Wolf Parade. The memorable chorus of "no's" and the prominent melodica (mouth keyboard) was quirky and reminiscent of the cinematic scoring of Jon Brion in I Heart Huckabees. The show was strong, music catchy and I reckon Bucks County is giving the music world yet one more amazing band to join the ranks with Illinois, Dr. Dog, and the Eastern Conference Champs. The last song put a cherry on top as the band left the stage for the middle of the floor of the venue. The crowd formed a circle around them and as they strummed and banged on a trash can lid and demanded everyone chime in for a sing-a-long - and EVERYONE did - I felt like a little hipster girl scout."

• "Penny Lane" it definitely isn't [+ Show ]
  

  "Describe a band with the words "Beatles" and "pop" and people think they've got nothing to worry ab..."Describe a band with the words "Beatles" and "pop" and people think they've got nothing to worry about. A little music hall piano, a clever turn of phrase, a few well-placed power chords, and there you have it: a pleasant but nonthreatening evening. Well, Drink up Buttercup may belong to the Beatles pop family, but it's made of more aggressive stuff. Signature song "Mr. Pie Eyes" rides a primal punk-ish lurch, all four band members slashing away at the same iron-giant-toppling riff. And when "Seasickness Pills" comes up, singer James Harvey works maniacally, guitar rampaging, tambourine banging and mike cowering before him. Visceral, exciting, theatrical, yes-but "Penny Lane" it definitely isn't."

• It Does Exist [+ Show ]
  

  "Imagine, if you will, if a Clockwork Orange's Alex DeLarge had been the fifth member of The Beatles..."Imagine, if you will, if a Clockwork Orange's Alex DeLarge had been the fifth member of The Beatles. Now think about what that music might have sounded like, if it actually existed. OH WAIT. IT DOES. Bucks County's Drink Up Buttercup is what that band would have been..."
  © 2008 - WQHS Blog

• ONES TO WATCH: DRINK UP BUTTERCUP [+ Show ]
  

  The latest signing to Make Mine is Drink Up Buttercup, a modern day psych band from Philadelphia. Be...The latest signing to Make Mine is Drink Up Buttercup, a modern day psych band from Philadelphia. Be prepared for something out of the
ordinary and wonderfully peculiar. Most noticeable about this new band is the 60's and punk influences, but Drink Up Buttercup have managed to bring these sounds right up to date.
  
  
  The first single 'Mr Pie Eyes' is a crazy little track that will leave you spinning and the b-side, 'Gods and Gentleman' is a beach boys-esque piece of surf pop, with hints of The Kinks and solid harmonies. If you have not yet noticed the record label Make Mine, they are the 7" label that brought you Plastic Little, Fryars, The Books first and recently introduced Dent May and his Magnificent Ukulele to everyone.
  
  Drink Up Buttercup are four, consisting of an ex-opera scholar who refused to exchange sexual favours for solos, a comic book kid who still uses a Discman to play music in the car, and two teens who are engaged in an epic battle of side projects for myspace plays. James Harvey is the lead singer/guitar player of Drink Up Buttercup, and Michael T. plays drums and percussion. The rest of the Drink Up sound comes from Ben Money and Farzad Houshiarnejad, who constantly trade off on bass, keys, melodica, vocals, and other random instruments throughout their shows. Collectively, the band has created what someone previously described as “The Beatles in a Blender.” Critics often liken Drink Up’s sound to classic bands like Pink Floyd, The Beach Boys, and Frank Zappa as well as to contemporary bands such as Man Man and Animal Collective.
  
  Throughout most of Drink Up Buttercup’s reviews runs a common thread of excitement and appreciation of the band’s ability to put on a performance as opposed to simply a musical showcase. Drink Up’s shows have often been associated with the spectacle of a circus, the buzz of a barroom sing along, and the comfort of a nursery rhyme. They will be starting a tour that spans the US and hopefully will cross the pond to the UK later this year, in the mean time they offer up this taster of a 7”, a chance to be on of the first aware of this exciting new band.
  
  Single: Mr Pie Eyes / Gods and Gentlemen
  Release Date: 10th November
  Label: Make Mine
  
  www.myspace.com/drinkupbuttercupband
  www.myspace.com/makemine
  
  
  
  
  http://www.noizemakesenemies.co.uk/2008/09/ones-to-watch-drink-up-buttercup.html
  
  

Setlist

Mr. Pie Eyes
Gods and Gentleman
Heavy Hand
Seasickness Pills
Sosey and Dosey
Farewell Captain
Alien Toes
One Big Organ
Pink Sunshine
Lovers Play Dead

35-40 minutes

Basic Requirements

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