Crooked Eye Tommy immediately draws listeners in with a blues-rock style. The narrative that Crooked Eye Tommy immediately starts Butterflies & Snakes with ensures that listeners will be on the edges of their seat. The emotional intensity of the guitar that is weaved through this effort further heightens the overall gravity of the recordings.
I Stole the Blues builds upon the archetypal bayou blues sound. The deliberate beat of the track is the first indicator of a thread that will be ran through the album. The clapping, stomping, raucous sound bubbles up a number of times through Butterflies & Snakes.
Time Will Tell adds a little bit of jazz and funk into the equation. With a crystal clear set of vocals, Crooked Eye Tommy is able to bring in hints of Dire Straits and Joe Cocker. Somebody’s Got to Pay immediately hammers home a guitar / horn / percussion dynamic that burrows itself deep into the mind and psyche of listeners. The beautiful thing about this single has to be ability to feel as if it was released in the 1930s/1940s but possess enough of a fresh and lively sound to engage younger fans.
Over and Over is the longest effort on Butterflies & Snakes. The effort allows Crooked Eye Tommy ample time to spread his wings and contains a deeper engagement with the instruments. Arrangements are given time to breathe and what results is a contemplative sound that works well in the context of the album. Southern Heart is the final effort on Butterflies & Snakes. This concluding statement is good in that it showcases all of the nuances that are present in Crooked Eye Tommy’s style while providing fans with some idea of where CET may go in follow-up releases.
Top Tracks: Somebody’s Got to Pay, I Stole the Blues
Rating: 8.4/10
Crooked Eye Tommy – “Butterflies & Snakes” / 2015 Self / 11 Tracks / http://crookedeyetommy.com/ / https://www.facebook.com/CrookedEyeTommy/