(BostonGlobe) You’ll hear plenty of DJs dropping dubstep into their sets around the city (more still complaining about the ones who do), but not quite as many producing it themselves of late. Which is why “Promise Me,” the standout among a series of singles released this year by the Boston-area production duo and DJ team Butlertron is such a welcome change of pace. Mostly because it’s not awful — no easy feat these days.
The track, produced by Mike Short of Stoneham and Mike Bell of Melrose, isn’t quite so simple to classify, however. While it throbs and surges with peaks and valleys of bass static, it veers off into chippy synth runs that sound pulled from a frantically side-scrolling 8-bit adventure game before exploding with ascending house chords. The package is rounded off with a sultry but minimal vocal track that places it squarely on the popular side of the line drawn between snooty chin-strokers and those aiming for the throb of packed dance floor.
Likewise, “Straight Energy” gurgles on a squiggly bass line and upstroke beat while guest vocalist Sarah Lachambre adds a soulful, romantic vocal that makes it well suited for falling in love in the zero-G suspension of the bass drop.
The duo, who perform at The Good Life on...
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