Posted on 14 August 2008 by Simon Gurney
The Voluntary Butler Scheme is Rob Jones, a one-man band hailing from the West Midlands. Trading Things In, is a three song showcase of quirky Englishness, psych tinged sunny bubblegum pop, not unlike another similar mix of one-man band, quirky Englishness, psych tinged sunny bubblegum pop, Jim Noir.
‘Trading Things In’ has a fuzzy electric guitar with acoustic laid over, playing a very obvious unsubtle rhythm, drums, hand claps, organ and harmonica join in the fun as Jones peals off lyrics like, ‘I want to trade my jumbo jet/In for a paper plane‘, and ‘Just like coffee and tea/I need you regularly‘. It’s a glorious jumble of sounds that gets whipped into an unbelievably catchy chorus of ‘Baby don’t go for anyone/I said baby don’t go for anyone, else‘, acoustic matching the vocal melody, and that unsubtle rhythm driving deep into your gut, pop heaven. ‘The Eiffel Tower And The BT Tower’ is another carnival of sound, melodic bass, blasting trumpets, xylophone, strummed acoustic (again), and a garage rock electric guitar effect. The whole thing sounds like it’s being performed in a village hall, a close echo, almost metallic, on the vocals and instruments. The lead guitar plays a 50s inspired melody, supporting the lyrical direction, which is pointed at a ‘girl I can’t ignore‘, a sincere “I’m in love” song, with amusing imagery, ‘And like when you said you loved the songs of the Pet Shop Boys/But hated the way they sound/So I played them all out for you on just guitar and kazoo‘. Continue Reading
Posted on 31 July 2008 by Rich Thane
Momento is starting to build up nicely for The Voluntary Butler Scheme, or Rob Jones as he’s known to his mum. Gaining positive support from 6Music and Radio 2 from the likes of Marc Riley, John Kennedy, Rob Da Bank, Jon Hillcock, Steve Lamacq and Huw Stephens. No suprise either. This guy is real good, if pigeonholing is your thing you can stick him amongst the likes of Noah & The Whale, Laura Marling, Emmy The Great and Johnny Flynn. Quirky sun-kissed folk. We likey. Quite a lot in fact.
Currently promoting the new and really rather good EP Trading Things In, we caught up with Rob to pitch our ever popular quick fire conundrums… Continue Reading
Posted on 29 May 2008 by Rich Thane
Having just finished a tour with Joe Lean And The Jing Jang Jong and currently touring with TLOBF faves Duke Spirit, The Voluntary Butler Scheme are currently offering a free download of the song ‘Laundry’ via their myspaz.
A new EP entitled Trading Things In will be released on July 14th, The video for the title track was completed last weekend by director James Copeman, who recently worked with Mystery Jets. Expect that to appear on the site sometime soon…
Momento is building up nicely for The Voluntary Butler Scheme, or Rob Jones as he’s known to his mum. Gaining positive support from 6Music and Radio 2 from the likes of Marc Riley, John Kennedy, Rob Da Bank, Jon Hillcock, Steve Lamacq and Huw Stephens. No suprise either. This guy is real good, if pigeonholing is your thing you can stick him amongst the likes of Noah & The Whale, Laura Marling, Emmy The Great and Johnny Flynn. Quirky sun-kissed folk. Me likey. Quite a lot in fact.
