Sour Boy Bitter Girl destroys landscapes, rebuilds them on record

If you’re grumbling about the number of tax dollars we’re going to blow rebuilding Iraq now that we’ve pulled out, remember it could be worse. We could be blowing our tax dollars rebuilding the Great Plains after an army of wolf men ravaged them. That’s the world into which Sour Boy Bitter Girl’s upcoming album drops listeners. After (metaphorically) destroying the high plains and the deserts in the background of 2009’s Songs About The Landscape Or Songs About The Wolf Army, the band plans to revisit the wreckage on the upcoming tentatively titled The Days After The Fire. “A recurring theme that might show up is the days after the fire,” explains singer-guitarist Benjamin Buttice, “which will kind of reference to the last album, the whole idea of burning the plains down and what happens afterwards.”

The Days After The Fire also features the return of Buttice’s brother Dom, who has lurked as an on-again-off-again member through the years, to the drum stool. It’s more than a family reunion, though. The singer-guitarist guarantees that his prodigal brother will ratchet things up a notch. “I drummed on the last album, but he’s a much better drummer than me,” Benjamin admits. “Drums will probably play more prominently into this album than they did the last because I won’t be limited by my own skill level.”

The Fort Collins Americana roots act settled into Buttice’s home studios (dubbed Dead Pigeon Studios) for the effort and is midway through sorting Buttice’s massive songwriting output. With about two albums’ worth of songs, the act is poised to release a new full-length and is holding out hope to follow it with a pair of EPs.