Leading Italian music blog published their review of This Was Gonna Last on April 4, 2023. The band has received significant play in Europe and has recently been reviewed by well-known music blogs in the UK and on the continent. Click HERE for a direct link to the review. Artists Online writes:
Each song tells a story. When an artist decides to write a song, he does so driven by the urgency of fixing forever a certain moment or episode in his life that particularly struck him. From this point of view, an entire album contains a series of events that occurred in a certain period of time, so the record will inevitably represent a certain period of the artist’s life.
Looking at this work we will realize that that slice of life, or that particular time juncture consists of good moments and bad moments. This shouldn’t come as a surprise because life is like this and his teachings are imparted to us through the difficulties and joys he puts before us. Releasing an album therefore means putting on paper what life has taught us in that particular moment of our existence.
In light of these considerations, the debut album of the band Butterfly Garden entitled This Was Gonna Last constitutes the arrival point of a path that has been punctuated by the events that inspired the stories narrated in the songs.
Butterfly Garden play a fresh and genuine indie-rock showing off an already very mature writing given the young age of its components. There are nine pieces that the band gives us with this album that deals with personal issues related to the experiences of its members. Love, hope, abandonment, melancholy and passion, in a word, life.
The piece that opens the disc is 17 which immediately makes clear the stylistic coordinates of the band. In this song that talks about adolescent emotions we have a first taste of the skills of the group that mixes sweet melodies and bewildered riffs that end in a final section in which an engaging odd tempo stands out. Attic is a quicker song, characterized by a punky rhythm in which the band does not skimp on originality by inserting guitar licks with an almost jazz flavor that also emerges in the harmonies. The rhythmic system is particularly lively and imaginative.
Mirror to Mirror begins with a very rhythmic special riff that leads to a melodic verse destined to transform into an enthralling mid tempo. Also in this piece the accompaniment to the voice represents the flagship of the track. Tempo and accent changes color this great track which ends with a section with almost metal tones and intentions.
In Bradley the group explores a sound dimension close to grunge both in terms of sounds and vocal interpretation. Tinted Windows is a decidedly softer episode that draws on bossa-nova rhythms reinterpreted through the band’s very personal sound. Little Moon is a very intense acoustic song that highlights the harmonic competence of the band who carefully chooses the chord progressions and consequently the notes performed in the solos that are refined and full of taste. What is striking about this group is the feeling between the various musicians that emerges clearly from the complexity of the passages between various expressive registers and in the passage sections.
Waste Of Time begins with another brilliant and original riff that leads us to the verse where the bass gives us an agile and dynamic performance. Sirenita presents a new harmonically disturbing episode contaminated by jazz sounds. Also in this song the eclectic personality of the band manifests itself in all its creativity. The song that closes this amazing collection of songs is Virginia , a sort of acoustic ballad with a folk soul that demonstrates once again how many arrows the band’s bow has at its disposal. An amazing debut from all points of view that we hope will pave the way for this talented group.