Butts

Seattle punk duo Butts now has two songs about things that happen in bathroom stalls.

"Panty Exchange" came first, a 35-second-long song with a six-minute video directed by local man Carlos Lopez. "Wiggle Drip" is the new Buttz/Lopez collab, released today as the street single from an as yet unnamed sophomore release due 11/12 on Capitol Hill label GGNZLA.

"We were trying to make the shortest video of all time," said guitarist/vocalist Rachel Ratner.

In 21 seconds, Lopez's "Wiggle Drip" visually represents a story with an emotional arc: Sometimes when there is no toilet paper (panic), you have to shake urine from your body using only movement and gravity (action), and that's funny (resolution).

Also notable: "Wiggle Drip" sort of attempts to start a dance meme. Seattle acts don't try that very often. - The Seattle Times

Seattle duo Butts has mastered the art of the brief and the bare when it comes to loud, snappy, often hilarious garage rock. Their 7-song EP was barely 12 and a half minutes for cryin’ out loud. You might recall the video that somehow transformed the 37-second “Panty Exchange” into a gleeful 6-minute caper shenanigan. Well here’s a new song, called “Wiggle Drip” and also shot by one Carlos Lopez, looking to sweep the nation with its ladies room technique term coinage. Possibly, the term has been coined going on several years now—whuddoo I know. Do you have a square to spare? - Seattle Sub Sonic

Whereas their "Panty Exchange" video was 35 seconds turned into a six minute spy epic, "Wiggle Drip"'s visual stays true to the song's 21 seconds of existential desperation. Admit it, you just wanna piss/party with those ggnzla kids. - The Stranger

Tonight at the Cairo Gallery, local two-piece Butts will be rawking out to inaugurate the release of their self-titled album on noted DIY imprint Ggnzla. Aiding in their celebration will be melodically adept punx The Shackles and Stephanie, another Seattle collective whose members include Matt Lawson (Secret Colors) and Ian Judd (Dimples).

Butts are Shannon Perry and Rachel Ratner (Partman Parthorse, part KEXP staffer), and they play short, high-voltage bursts of bratty punk with gleefully casual assurance. Tonight will mark Ratner’s grand return to the Cairo, where her “Seattle Band Incest Map” was a crowd-wowing interactive art installation during the venue’s Expo 87 weekend music festival back in November.

Cairo’s folks recommend showing up early (show starts at 7!). The gallery is at 507 E. Mercer, in case you’re spacing on the addy. CDs (and cassettes, duh) of the new Butts s/t will of course be on hand. - The Stranger

If I didn’t know any better I would say that Seattle’s Butts are a couple of snot-nosed 15 year old girls with a penchant for pissing off their parents and any other form of authority they can think of. The seem to revel in being obnoxious, equating riding public transportation to having unwanted sex, and championing the pleasures of Alcohol, Cigarettes, and Marijuana to the horror of responsible adults everywhere. They even have a theme song that I bet could be a number one hit among boys ages 5-8. I mean, what boy in that age group could deny a song with lyrics like, We’re Butts, Shut Up! and We’re Butts, Butts, Butts, Butts, Butts…We’re totally Butts? The Butts get the youngsters hooked with the cool potty humor and then hit ‘em with the hard stuff. Obviously this record is aimed at corrupting our youth, and it’s so damn catchy and cool sounding that if it gets out to the greater public, we could have a problem on our hands not seen since kids were playing records backwards to get satanic messages.

Of course, the Butts are not 15 year old girls, they are Rachel Ratner of Partman Parthorse and Shannon Perry of Katharine Hepburn’s Voice, and they’ve just released a seven song EP on Seattle’s GGNZLA records. The time it takes you to read this little itty bitty post about them is about the same amount of time it will take you to listen to their EP. The longest song is a minute and a half, and the shortest is half a minute. It’s economic punk informed by Riot Grrrl, the Minutemen, Cars Can Be Blue and Mojo Nixon. The Lyrics are juvenile and off the cuff and the music bare-bones drums and guitar, but that’s the point, short, sharp shocks that make you laugh. - The Finest Kiss

I've been banging the Butts cassette, and am glad it came packaged with a download code. The Seattle duo recently released its debut self-titled EP via local GGNZLA Records.

The songs on "Butts" are short, fun, seemingly hastily recorded punk rock, all titled after their main lyric, which is one or two words out of about ten each. Taken together, "We're Butts," "Cigarettes," "Panty Exchange," "Alcohol," "Dollar Bills," "Public Transportation," and "Marijuana" paint a picture of Rachel Ratner (Seattle via San Luis Opisbo) and Shannon Perry (Seattle via the Eastside 'burbs) roving the city, looking for kicks, taking the piss. It's presented like a day in the life, with the songs' "messages" made literal to the point of sarcasm ("alcohol is pretty awesome," "cigarettes: we smoke 'em all night"), but that's kind of the listener's call.

I like the rap/R&B influence on "Butts." The main lyric on "Dollar Bills" perhaps comes from The Wu-Tang Clan's Ol' Dirty Bastard, and "Alcohol" jacks the "how's it hanging?" line from Salt-N-Pepa's 1994 classic "Shoop": "Shotgun, bang! What's up with that thang?" - The Seattle Times

Here are some videos I shot a few Fridays ago (3/19) of goofy garage girls Butts at the Black Lodge on Eastlake. The first one— “Alcohol”—is my favorite of their silly, short burst party punk: “Oh alcohol! Is pretty fuckin’ awesome!” Slays me every time. “Hung Over” and “Dollar Bills” are also included. You can watch one more for “We’re Butts” over on my YouTube channel. The daffy duo is Rachel Ratner and Shannon Perry: the former an integral cog in local favorites Partman Parthorse who’s now the resident riff wrecker for Butts, the latter of the defunct Katharine Hepburn’s Voice and now drunkenly drumming her way to comedic glory. Are they going just simply for tomfoolery and well-played rock tunes? Or are they looking for a meteoric rise to the top of the party pile? Well, you can pick up a cassette or check out their show and decide for yourself. First show back from their Cali tour is April 15th at the Comet. - Seattle Subsonic

"This song's about my life as a 30-year-old," says Rachel Ratner, glancing at drummer Shannon Perry. "And how that makes me feel."

The front-woman for Seattle punk duo Butts knots her brow, looks to the sky, and pities herself.

She and Perry are at The Funhouse, the dirty dive by the Space Needle that used a have a scary clown sculpture on its roof.

"I feel anxious, I feel sad," Ratner starts, banging out power chords on electric guitar, her voice shaky and pressurized. The song is called "Panic Attack."

Muppet-mashing her drums with no finesse but great purpose, Shannon Perry suddenly stops and leans into her own microphone.

"Youuuuuuuu!! Neeeed to caaaaalm doooowwn!" she bellows, sounding quite insane herself. "Relaaaaax. Take a chill pill!"

Ratner nods, not playing guitar anymore: "OK. Uh huh."

"Youuuuuu... need to find your inner zen!" Perry howls, shaking her blocky-bangs haircut, testing the limits of her microphone, hurting audience members' ears.

The two women seem to interrupt the song with their conversation, but that's part of "Panic Attack." The conversation is a theatrical song-component that represents Ratner's inner dialog between neurotic and reasonable parts of her brain. Ratner plays the part of manic impulsivity, Perry plays against type as the voice of reason. Like all Butts songs, "Panic Attack" is to varying degrees unprofessional, conceptual, autobiographical, and funny.

"You need to access your feng shui," Perry shouts, which doesn't make any sense, and makes Ratner laugh.

"My feng shui?"

Other highlights of the set include "The Spins," where a staccato beat and matching descending guitar line create a disorienting feeling, and "Schmeatza," about liquefying pizza and drinking it out of a beer hat. There's also a frantic, many-chorded song I believe is about the weather. They're all new tracks not included on Butts' self-titled debut EP out on local label GGNZLA, which is excellent, a day in the life told in minute-length (or less) songs called what they're about: "Cigarettes," "Public Transportation," "Alcohol," etc.

After Ratner announces it's "Shotgun Heard Around the World" day — a holiday propped up by a Facebook page — "Alcohol" takes on a new meaning, especially its Salt-N-Pepa aping chorus: "Shotgun, bang, what's up with that thang?"

About 40% of Butts' set is unplanned banter, which makes for brilliant zingers and also dead-end ramblings. Ratner and Perry are half-assed musicians and half-assed comedians, and you can guess what those halves add up to. But that's Butts' science: one aspect can shine when the other's not working out. It's about feeling the energy of the room, I suppose, as much as it is two women doing whatever the hell they want.

"We're a joke band," Perry tells me after the concert. "But we're not." - The Seattle Times