Howdy folks, hope everyone is enjoying the single and looking forward to the album (coming soon...). Here's a few reviews of the single to have a scan over (press reviews not included). See y'all soon,
JB*
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Jack Butler
'Are You A Hustler'
(Whimsical Records)
Released: 15/12/08
****
Jack Butler are four lads from north of the boarder who are slowly making a name for themselves across the United Kingdom with their lively brand of vibrant indie rock/pop. Having already released the enigmatic 'Velvet Prose' and the anthemic 'Boy vs. Beast', their latest offering is a riotous fanfare of electrics, pulsing drum beats that punctuate the air like heavy rain on a tin roof and laced by Liam Kelly's usual growling Celtic vocal.
There are some close similarities with the very metronomic, 'Are You A Hustler' and previous release 'Boy vs. Beast' in terms of composition and melody. For some this might be a worry, particularly with the bands debut album coming out in early 2009. Thankfully b-sides on this single release and on previous releases are a good sign that the band has depth and variety in it's writing capabilities and that the album won't be a monotonous affair.
Jack Butler simply are one of the most exciting bands to pop up in the last 18 months. In a nut shell they're like Joy Division meets The Arctic Monkeys via KC And The Sunshine Band.
www. myspace. com/jackbutlerpresents
Matt Clutton www.allgigs.co.uk
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http://www.toxicpete.co.uk/jackbutler2.html
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Released through the rather wonderful and generally self-describing label Whimsical (although this release can hardly be described as that), the first single from Jack Butler in a couple of years sounds as great as it does out of date.
Treading the same ground (disco meets pop meets indie on a crowded dancefloor) as Hard-Fi did to mind-numbing results before disappearing up their own arses for good and Datarock did to near perfection, the band known infuriatingly as Jack Butler (for there are four of them) add a few essential ingredients - musicianship, excitement and raw likability.
The result is a rather live sounding record full of excellent 70..s cop show hooks, a shout-a-long chorus and an engrossingly schizophrenic structure. In short, it..s the kind of great sound your favourite band used to produce before they had their soul sucked out by major label vampires!
Posted on 25 November 2008 by Richard Brown http://www.culturedeluxe.com/news_item.asp?id=5213
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I had to share this one with you... had a package arrive last week from our friends at Lazy Acre who are plugging a great act at the moment by the name of Jack Butler...
Are You A Hustler is (I believe) the bands second single for Whimsical Records up in Edinburgh and is as catchy a disco pop tune as your likely to hear this year... Initial first impression was of a slightly more po faced Black Kids playing a neat line in Joy Division riffs (judging by the b-side W.Fire at least)
However repeated listens reveal more, a smidge of the republic of loose in the 'calling you out' chorus and a yelped delivery not too far removed from Modest Mouse pilot Isaac Brook.
A shimmery pop treat then and one thats even had Mrs Hipster shaking some booty this weekend!
check out more over at the myspace - myspace.com/jackbutlerpresents
http://oldagehipster.blogspot.com
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Maps Magazine: www.mapsmagazine.co.uk
Jack Butler - Are You A Hustler? Single (Whimsical Records - Out Dec 15th)
To use an oft aired parlance - That Jack Butlers a swell bunch of guys. Theres the Jack Butler that stands propped up the bar watching the carnage ensue as he quietly drops balls of disco funk mercury and watches bodies move, theres the Jack Butler that shuffles around all understated like a shy 'Editors' (On B-Side W.Fire) deploying Icy cold riffs over eminently danceable beats and indeed theres the party animal Jack Butler that likes nothing better than to head to the centre of the dancefloor, puts his head down and shakes it like a polaroid picture.
the fact that all these men come together with muscular chops and one of the hookiest choruses youll hear for a while, means 'Are You A Hustler?' is a wonderful statement of intent. Picking up the bass heavy funk of Sh*tdisco and adding some glamour and discoball shimmers is something of a masterstroke and offers firm evidence that what we have on our hands is one to watch.
A swell buunch of guys - they can come again.
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The Mag
Single Review – Jack Butler / Are You A Hustler (Whimsical)
Imagine a cross between the Black Kids sparkly summer pop and the menacing brood of Tom Smiths editors and your starting to get somewhere near the kind of territory these guys call home (although keen eared listeners will even find quirk pop traces of Talking Heads in there in the yelping vocals and falsetto sections)
The band release their new single "Are You A Hustler" next month as a digital download ahead of the release of a new album sometime early in 2009. Whether said album has enough variety and depth to match the giddy expectation of this single (without falling into retread mode) is something that remains to be seen but for now this is quite some calling card.
All flailing arms and chanted choruses, the track struts its stuff like John Travolta at the start of Saturday night fever (IF John Travolta had a scottish accent and a penchant for slap bass boogie) and never relents from its boozy party mission to get your arms, firmly in the air. Available as a digital single the track also comes with an exclusive B-Side W.Fire which hits a more somber tone with an interpol tinged slice of "Factory"-esque indie matching Joy Division riffs to an ever present bouncy bassline.
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Buzz Sugar
One of the funkiest propositions Ive come across Recently – Jack Butlers new single cuts an interesting path between the gritty choppy funk of Artic Monkeys and the poppy escapism of the Scissor Sisters (theres nothing better than bit of disco funk guitar! Woop woop) If that sounds like faint praise its not meant to be – this is a tight band and one quite capable of writing bite sized nuggets of chart hugging pop.
Are You A Huster is a fabulous opening salvo (coming as it does as a ramp up to the bands new album out nexzt years) preening itself like a peacock whilst at the same time shaking its ass like a booty call at a parkinsons convention… hollering its chorus up at the rafters with a beer in one hand and possibly some kind of glowstick in the other the Scottish three piece have come up trumps with one hell of a pre xmas party starter.
8/10
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XYZ Magazine:
Marauding down from north of the border, Jack Butler release their new single Are You A Hustler in December through Edinburghs Whimsical Records. A funky disco pop shimmy through three minutes of unadulterated pop, Hustler sees the band finding a unique voice amid the glum faced indie of the peers. A Friday night belter designed to reverberate around Indie Discos the length and breadth of the country Are You A Hustler is a great single that sets up the debut album due in 2009 with great aplomb.
8/10
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Taking footnotes from Foals, The Automatic & The Cure; Jack Butler has created a steadfast, fool hardy mix of indie disco and sheer anthemic brute, perfect for throbbing festival masses, glow sticks at the read…
http://www.subba-cultcha.com/singles.php?id=26
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Jack Butler - Are You A Hustler
See, it's all my own fault. There I was banging on about how it may as well be 1982 as far as Stirling band Jack Butler (that's band, not bloke) are concerned, what with their spiky, scratchy guitar pop nods to Josef K and their ilk. What I forgot, of course, was that in indie world, it is 1982! Fool.
Anyhow, they're back for another crack at the poptabulous world of singles, and this follow up to 'Velvet Prose' and 'Boy vs. Beast' is rather good. They've turned up the electro beats, set the speedometer to 60mph and added in some tasty falsetto harmonies to their white boy, bass driven funk routine.
It may have been a couple of years since they last peeked above the parapet but they're threatening a whole album in 2009, so the world may yet be theirs for the taking. http://www.the-rocker.co.uk/
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Jack Butler :: 15 December 2008 / Whimsical / 2 Trk CD By Manuel Ecostos
Jack Butler is not a man; well OK, there are probably sever thousand Jack Butler's out there in the telephone directories of Great Britain; but this particular, plucky quartet are in fact, as previously reported here at MM, a band. From Scotland, they enjoy the 80's disco guitar work of bands like The Higsons and Haircut 100 of course the sprightly end of the Postcard Records catalogue. "Are You A Hustler?" is a near damn a perfect indie pop song, driven by off-beat rhythms and a fresh, spring-heeled tempo. Where the lead track is a colourful chart friendly blend, back up number "W.Fire", slips in signatures based on single note echoey guitar twangs. At times it's a little less well honed, but all the more appealing for it. Jack Butler maintain their contemporary relevance, whilst serving up something a little more original, but more importantly catchy. An impressive follow up. MMM ½
http://www.music-dash.co.uk/releases/release.asp?item=5864
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Jack Butler - Are You A Hustler?
(Whimsical Records)
Jack Butler release 'Are You A Hustler?' on 15th December, so you've still got a few weeks left to get yourself into a serious guitar-led disco mood so you can get down and groove to the pumping tones of this song.
This is a wonderfully crisp collision of indie and disco - not at all like the stuff where an indie band happened across a drummer who could only pump out that one beat - it's proper indie and proper disco simultaneously.
'W. Fire' continues the theme, with a bit of Bloc Party thrown in to give it more edginess than the single.
Jack Butler do this very well indeed. (8 out of 10)
Written By: Steve
http://www.the-mag.me.uk/Articles/Jack-Butler-Are-You-A-Hustler
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JACK BUTLER – Are You A Hustler?
***1/2
Scottish Indie with a hearty dose of foot-stomping funk courtesy of the four piece's maniacal rhythm section and upbeat guitars.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/sftw/article2028676.ece
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Mixing punk and funk isn't anything new, don't forget the likes of the Talking Heads and Gang Of Four where doing exactly this kind of thing back in the seventies; that's not to say the whole p-funk genre isn't still ripe for new additions.
Scottish outfit Jack Butler are a band playing to these musical conventions, injecting funk grooves to their snappy indie rock sound, something they do with aplomb on new single ARE YOU A HUSTLER?, deftly taking some of the best parts of the Talking Heads, Franz Ferdinand and the Arctic Monkeys and weaving them into something they can call their own.
Frontman Liam Kelly yelps and pulsates his way through the song, his wiry croon reminiscent of The Pop Group's Mark Stewart, catchy melodies colliding with springy guitar licks and infectious synth riffs. On the flipside, W. FIRE grooves to similar beats, but this time around Jack Butler inject a certain moody Joy Division like shimmer to proceedings with mesmeric guitar work.
Continuing to impress and evolve, Jack Butler are on top form here with ARE YOU A HUSTLER?
Review author: Mike Bond Release date: 15th December 2008 Rating: 7.5
http://www.ukmusicreview.com/reviews/jack-butler-are-you-a-hustler
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JACK BUTLER - ARE YOU A HUSTLER ****
A fast and furious romp with frantic guitars and tribal drums that's a glorious slice of indie pop mixed with disco. It's a bit Joy Division meets Bloc Party. Liam Kelly's shouty vocals remind of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Can't wait for the debut album from the Stirling the four-piece. AC
http://www.sundaymail.co.uk/tv-showbiz-news/music-news/music-reviews/album-reviews/2008/12/14/singles-albums-released-this-week-78057-20970409/
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