"Criminally underrated" is a strong phrase and not one I use lightly. I don't generally toss it around willy-nilly, affixing the label to any mildly okay thing that hasn't had much recognition. But this is no mildly okay thing. B-Film and the Cannibalistic Po Howard Band – or B-Film Etc. as they have wisely abbreviated themselves to – are up to their sixth LP Maybe The Next One and somehow have not been acknowledged as marvellous.
Consisting of Paul Lutrell and Caitlin Barnett, B-Film Etc. has had a go at everything from psychedelia to post-punk to rock. The Tassie based duo's most recent release however falls more into the category of sleepy bedroom indie. 'Butterfly Clip' has a distinctly DIY, organic and truthfully raw quality to its production, lyrics and video.
Opening as a simple acoustic track with trembling soft vocals, 'Butterfly Clip' delves into a deeply felt and universal emotion – adult life is really hard, and childhood, no matter how awkward, was at least a bit softer and easy to look back on with an element of melancholic fondness.
By the song's hook however, we've dropped all premises that this is a comforting song as B-Film Etc.'s vocals rip into the inner nooks of your heart where you hold the most sacred, if mundane, detritus of your young life and tell you its gone forever. Ouch.
The band's thoughts on their inspiration for 'Butterfly Clip' are similar, if less brutal.
"It's pure nostalgia, but I guess It's also about a kind of ambivalence towards memories," they said. "Growing up in a poor neighbourhood, you'd develop a high tolerance for boredom and neglect, but there was a lot of freedom in that."
Listen to the music video version of the song for the full wounding effect – with the look that its been cut together with with grainy home video footage, the video and track combined induce that odd bubbly feeling in your throat when you weren't quite expecting to feel sad but can't help it anyway.