I Only Laugh When It Hurts – Vish Iyer

I Only Laugh When It Hurts is a follow-up to Butterface’s
2004 debut
Popskull. When a band makes a great record, and knows that
it has created a great record, it goes through some amount of
pressure — if not none — when it sets out to work on the
follow-up (ask Coldplay), and in that process, invariably tries a
new and experimental sound. As for the question of how well these
new avatars work for the band, is something irrelevant in the
present discussion.

I Only Laugh… is a typical successor to a great
record. It has a different sound, and the band has a new attitude.
Popskull had everything an aspiring alt-rock act like
Butterface — and an average listener of such a record — would
want in a debut: well-crafted uncomplicated rock songs with crisp
and catchy hooks, which flow effortlessly from an outfit that seems
to be playing at its best.

I Only Laugh… is
Popskull minus the catchiness, simple choruses, and the
general feeling of well-being. It is raw, complete with sharp claws
and menacing teeth, and it is out to sink them into the listener’s
ears and enjoy the sight of the slow bleeding process.

The opener “Temptation” sets it all up for the rest of the
record to follow: A slow intro builds up into a rage-ridden chaotic
temper, in the midst of which singer Jerry Rig bawls out in full
fury, “You had the choice, but you gave into temptation,” as if to
say “suffer, dude, suffer, and you’re to blame for it,” not making
things any easier for the sufferer.

“Temptation,” nevertheless, is an awesome rock song, giving a
perfect “punch-in-the-face” effect. The album gets better and
meaner, but the songs still rock and are still awesome.
Particularly, “Where Have You Gone,” “Slow,” “Impossible,” and
“Didn’t You” give the effect of the unexplainable rush of blood
that makes rock music so damn fantastic. However, these tracks are
much more aggravated and reprimanding in nature as compared to cuts
on Popskull that gave a similar high.

With every experimental record, there is a downside, and which
is, its weirdness. And songs that give form to this weirdness often
bear the brunt of despoiling the record, for those who fail to
understand them.
I Only Laugh… has a few of such songs, which are
outright eccentric, leaving the listener disillusioned, in a
way.

“(Not) Missing You” is the least unconventional of the far-out
numbers in album. This number kicks off in a semi-drugged state
with some really fine sax-accompaniments, but somewhere mid-way
gets sick of its own sluggishness and tries to run away from it as
if it is on fire, with Rig screaming “I am not missing you, ” as if
to say “Run! Fire! Run!” The 33-second long “That Sucking Sound,”
the 2-minute long “Way To Winger,” can be considered as unnecessary
fillers, or interesting sound-bytes (that come as a part-and-parcel
of every concept album), depending upon which way they are looked
at.

I Only Laugh… is not as conventional as
Popskull, and is much more moodier. Its moods are much
darker and discomposed. It does not have the appeal of
Popskull, which can be accepted and appreciated by most
listeners wanting to give it a shot.
I Only Laugh… may alienate some of Butterface’s
previous listeners. But the band had to grow up, and
I Only Laugh… is a mature effort.

[For more information on Butterface, visit
butterface.co.nr]