Twin Butte based musician Herky Cutler has a quirky sense of humour but also knows how to write a song.
There are several catchy, laid back, Blue Rodeo/ Ken Tizzard style folky/ country tunes on his new CD “Love Is Like A Chicken.”
He starts things off bluesy with the catchy “Crazy Teenaged Love,” which is basically the theme of much of his music.
“For Mitch,” is a sad yet enlightening song about a suicidal friend which features and excellent guitar solo, though it could have been put a little louder on the CD, ditto for Cutler’s voice.
“Middle of Our Love,” is a sweet, upbeat love song which stands out because of Cutler’s voice and some haunting background vocals not to mention the flowing arpeggiated guitar riff.
The quirky and catchy title track plays on the “Chicken Soup,” inspirational books, while backing it up with some upbeat blues-rock.
And while most of the lyrics are really thoughtful and insightful, some of them are cringeworthy like the ballad “Queen of My Dreams.” It’s a beautiful ballad, if you don’t listen to the lyrics too closely which unfortunately come across as trite.
I don’t usually trash a person’s lyrics, but as a complete contrast, the lyrics of the following song, “Paperbox Heros” are beautifully poetic, which show just how good of a songwriter he is and why others like “Queen of My Dreams” really fall short of Cutler’s potential.
Pretty piano played by Evan Schaaf melds beautifully with the guitar on that track.
Then we get some lovely bluesy organ and a slinking bassline plus spooky whispering and chipmunk/ buzzing fly vocals mixed with Cutler’s distinctive voice on another highlight, the surreal “Spider and the Fly,” which is a really well written and evocative metaphor for a relationship.
He ends on another high, thought provoking track “Where Are We Going.”
Jocelyn Haubs, who is usually on stage with New West Theatre, provides some superb background vocals throughout the CD which come to the fore in the last verse of the last track.
Artist: Herky Cutler
Genre: country/ folk
Record Label: Indie
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