The Buttercream Gang profile picture

The Buttercream Gang

Do It (Like We Always [Do It])

About Me

The Buttercream Gang are an indie/post-punk/afro-beat band from San Francisco and Napa CA. Half of the Buttercream sound relies on edgy guitar driven punk/post-punk. Think bands like The Clash, Gang of Four and even The Talking Heads. Frenetic, fast and offbeat (not literally of course) indie-dance-punk. Songs like The Birthday Party and Breakdown exemplify this side of the band. The other half comes from such inter-continental influences as Latin, Dub and especially the rhythm and feel of Fela Kuti’s Afro-Beat music. Like Afro-Beat, the Buttercream Gangs rhythm section can be fast, and intensely dancy, but with curtains of fuzzed-up guitar and wailing vocals. The Buttercream Gangs sound combines elements of each of the band member’s own eclectic tastes and musical personality. Guitarist Bobby Renz takes after guitarists like Jimi Hendrix and Frank Zappa and laces the rhythm section with hugely overdriven, fuzzy, vintage-type tones and a reckless playing style that also bring to mind the more recent work of Dungen. Bassist/Keyboardist/Singer Peter Davies lays down simple, monolithic Afro and Dub style bass lines while either crooning softly, or frantically crying out lines like “Television, sweet television, lets run away, as far as your cable reaches!!!” Drummer Robinson Kuntz combines the power and depth of drummers like John Bonham of Led Zeppelin with the elegance and style of Tony Allen (Fela Kuti and the Africa ’70). The band use these different stylistic tendencies to create unique textures within the umbrella of what people call “indie-rock”. But they are not just an “indie-rock band”.

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 3/15/2005
Band Website: You're lookin' at it
Band Members: Peter Davies; Robinson Kuntz; Bobby Renz;CONTACT: [email protected]
Influences: Villa Corona Burritos and Tapatillo. Outdoor adventures, Fela Kuti and a bunch of other African Music, Talking Heads, Animal Collective, The Beatles (heard of them?), Radiohead, Liars, The Buena Vista Social Club, Scientist, Jimi Hendrix, The Clash, Dungen,Dynamite Expelle, Mikey Dread, The Zombies, Led Zeppelin, The Slits, Lee Scratch Perry, Tom Waits, Gang of Four, Neil Young, The Beach Boys, At The Drive-In, Joy Division, Deerhunter, Frank Zappa, Coltrane, Miles Davis, etc (not in that particular order....except the burritos; their definitely the most influential).
Sounds Like: Psychedelic-Juju-Distortion-Dub Dance Party
Type of Label: None

My Blog

We’re recording an album so good, you need not listen to anything else

Yet another blog. So. we finished all 4 (and one that opened up that will be discussed later) days of our originally scheduled dates at The Panda Studios and guess what we found out? We...
Posted by The Buttercream Gang on Tue, 27 Nov 2007 04:06:00 PST

Countdown. 16 Hours

So. It's the day before we go into the studio to begin recording.....breath...... I'm so worked up I actually have to think to breath as I write this. I feel like there is a million things that I shou...
Posted by The Buttercream Gang on Sat, 03 Nov 2007 05:27:00 PST

What the hell have those guys been up to?

So, for those that are interested, here's what we've been up to in our little world: 1. We have bought a buttload of new instruments and devices in hopes of having a good time and making more interest...
Posted by The Buttercream Gang on Mon, 17 Sep 2007 01:04:00 PST

saxophones and extended plays

As of last thursday Bobby purchased a saxaphone off Craig's List. 4 days in and we have already written a song with saxophone. It actualy sounds pretty sweet in my opinion, especially considering it's...
Posted by The Buttercream Gang on Mon, 02 Apr 2007 10:37:00 PST

Everything you need to know and some stuff you might not care about

Here I am again. The seasons have changed and it seems like a good time to update you on our general happenings. We are currently working on an EP. A couple weeks ago we went to Zone Recordings in Cot...
Posted by The Buttercream Gang on Tue, 30 Jan 2007 01:26:00 PST

"We've only just Begun" - Chubs

It's been a while since I've writen one of these and I thought I might as well update everyone on the bands situation. Since our album has come out things have been a little less eventful then we expe...
Posted by The Buttercream Gang on Thu, 23 Nov 2006 01:53:00 PST

We've Finished Recording, Now On To Mixing

So, we've finished recording the material for the album. last two times we were in the studio we patched up a few loose ends on the guitar. Rob laid down bongos on a few tracks and did some electric g...
Posted by The Buttercream Gang on Mon, 27 Mar 2006 12:41:00 PST

Almost Finished in the Recording Studio

After being in the studio for 5 days we are on the final stretch of production. We're going to go in and tie up all the loose ends and lay down some bongos. Thats right, bongos. We have done some othe...
Posted by The Buttercream Gang on Thu, 16 Feb 2006 12:26:00 PST

First Day of Recording

Today, January 24, Rob, Bobby and I (Pete) are going to begin recording our album at Panda Studios in Oakland. So far we have 4 days booked and hopefully we'll finish recording all our material within...
Posted by The Buttercream Gang on Tue, 24 Jan 2006 12:44:00 PST