The album was recorded with a small band at a guest house in Port Fairy on the Australian coast.

[3] Thom Owens from AllMusic said "Looking for Butter Boy retains many of the same themes of parental separation and aboriginal pride of his early releases, it is a harder and more accessible record than his other albums, partially due to the presence of producer Malcolm Burn.

What's important, however, is that Roach has retained his eye for lyrical detail and arresting melody, which makes Looking for Butter Boy yet another wonderful record from this underappreciated singer-songwriter.

Townsend said "Roach's songs are mostly autobiographical, seemingly simple catalogs of people and places that become bigger and stronger as the details draw you in.

On "F Troop" he revisits the Charcoal Lane neighborhood of his youth and recalls the bittersweet moment he met his brother for the first time and on the album's most poignant track, "Louis St. John" he joins with his wife, singer Ruby Hunter, in a mournful affirmation of the persistence of the human spirit.