Bill Botting and the Two Drink Minimums - Better Friends

  by Dixie Ernill

published: 12 / 6 / 2017

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Bill Botting was based in the UK for ten years before heading back to his native Australia with his young family in tow earlier this year. During those years, not only did he bring a joyous effervescence to the indie-pop scene as the pogoing bass player of the late, great ‘Allo Darlin’, but also appeared on stage alongside ex-Hefner stalwart Darren Hayman as well as performing in other groups such as Moustache of Insanity. Indeed I recall a few years back seeing Bill playing live with three different bands in a little over a month. He was quite possibility the hardest working bass player in indie-pop at the time, but always with a beaming smile on his face! And so to 'Better Friends', an album conceived by Bill with the help of a whole host family and friends from the bands such as ‘Allo Darlin’, the Wave Pictures, Owl & Mouse and Tigercats. Opening with the excellent title track, so good it could sit easily on any ‘Allo Darlin’ album and followed up by the equally catchy 'Burning Bridges' it is clear that Bill’s abilities stretch way beyond that of a mere bass player. 'Better Friends' is far from a one-trick pony though with 'Knew You When' having a distinct country feel and 'Treating You Right' mining the same seam as Status Quo! A fine reading of the Paul Simon hit, 'Graceland' proves a stunning centre-piece to the album before a heavy slice of electric guitar drives on 'Feeling Sad Again', a raucous duet between Bill and his sister Hannah. 'The Rug' is a tender and laidback love song and 'Paulie’s Girl' is an amusing tale of being looking out of a hotel room in Spain, while the final song, 'Difficult Stuff' is packed with the emotion of trying to explain depression to your children. A powerful end to a quite wonderful album. I don’t know when or indeed if Bill Botting will resurface musically, but if 'Better Friends' is his farewell present it’s a pretty special one!

Track Listing:-

1 Better Friend
2 Burning Bridges
3 Knew You When
4 Treating You Right
5 Graceland
6 Feeling Sad
7 The Rug
8 Paulie's Girl
9 Difficult Stuff

Label Links:-

http://fikarecordings.com/
https://www.facebook.com/fikarecordings
https://twitter.com/fikarecordings
http://www.last.fm/label/Fika+Recordings
https://www.youtube.com/user/fikarecordings

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