The tumultuous life of a band is an unpredictable soirée. A common structure is to begin with fresh, almost pure ideas that slowly become perverted with influence from a music scene or group of people, be it fans or the media. This is why Britches is such an enigma. Something happened in the early days of 2010 to turn a blossoming and light hearted rock band into a secular group of noisy darklings.
Before Britches, Marty Reutter and Andrew Carter shared a musical endeavor under the name the Busty Friends. Care-free vocal melodies and mostly major scale guitar licks are present, and the songs are full of slapstick humor. A long-winded description would certainly help to paint a picture of the band, but nothing could serve as vivid a descriptor as the Busty Friends's music video for "Sexual Naptime."
"Our friend Devin was taking some film classes and he wanted to use that song for a video, so I went way over the top and came up with the idea. It was fun to do though." Reutter says.
December 2, 2009 is the illuminating day in which we were graced with this shining piece of cinematography. The next video I'd like to present to you is a live session of Britches recorded less than a year later. Reutter and Carter from the previous video should be instantly recognizable, and the contrast in style and tone is stunning.
The Busty Friends were short lived, and there might be good reason for that, but Sexual Naptime is an infectious song and the music video is something that begs to be shared. These videos present a stark juxtaposition. What sort of ideological shift occured in the early days of 2010? Further research must be made into this subject, but for now we'll have to settle for enjoying Britches's dark and creeping post-rock. Or not.
The Busty Friends recently let news of a reunion show slip from its buxom chest. St. Louis will have one more chance to enjoy the short-lived two-piece on May 19, 2012 at The Heavy Anchor. "I really thought we'd never do this again. It's going to be a train wreck." Reutter says.
This reunion comes in honor of old friends Dark Blue Dark Green touring from Columbia, Missouri. St. Louis natives Media Ghost complete the line-up, making for a night of jarring rock music.
Editor's note: Joseph Hess is the founder of Hi-Fi Octopi, a musicians' collective of which Britches is a member.
