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Tonight; Music Is Noise

December 13, 2019

Buffalo noise outfit Noumenoise is curating a heavy duty two night noise fest celebrating and exploring “ordered and chaotic sound.” Tonight’s first night at Milkie’s on Elmwood is focused on “heavy earth sounds” and will be featuring Ithaca’s HEARSE, Cosmic Heart Crisis from Syracuse, Rochester’s Fentanyl Tapwater, plus local noise artists Anthopic, Jesse and the Spirit, Menophilia, and Party Shirt. Tomorrow night at Nietzsche’s will be all about “heavenly space sounds” from Cleveland’s Item, Denzelworldpeace, Dogs In Stereo, Family ph0t0 b00k, $Bitch.00, Karsten Brooks, TEA SOUP, and Destroying. Cover is $5 per show or $7 for a two night wristband, and doors are at 8pm. Being a celebration of the local and regional noise scenes, it has been requested that there will be “no discrimination, no creeps, no egos,” so please, don’t be a dickhead.The Light Has Gone [demo 2019] by Hearse

Tonight: Mallwalkers Farewell Show

December 6, 2019

They did what they set out to do, and now local DIY punk heroes Mallwalkers are saying goodbye tonight after nine years with a full scale blow out at the Mohawk with Providence disco punk La Neve and DJ Reazon. This last waltz will feature two epic sets from the band, the first spotlighting the core (Jaz Frazier, Dan Carosa, Stephen Schmidt, Stephen Floyd, Bob Fullex, Norelle Merlo, Tony Flaminio, Chelsea Merlo, Mario Fanone), with an expanded Stop Making Sense lineup featuring Bryan Johnson, Ethan Hayden, former MW drummer Jason Bauers, and Jenny Kubicki bringing it all home to end this Mallwalkers decade in art punk funk style. But fear not, Mallwalkers do have a posthumous final album due out next spring, so they’ll never be far from our hearts or record collections. Opening the show will be La Neve, the avant-garde disco punk solo project of Downtown Boys songwriter and guitarist[...]

Tonight: Beach Slang

November 26, 2019

Philadelphia punk rock faith healers Beach Slang make a welcome return to Buffalo tonight at the Mohawk with local support from Mom Said No and The Eaves. Masterminded by punk auteur and frontman James Alex, Beach Slang keeps the punk flame alive with purposeful yet romantic lyrics, instantly classic riffs, and a healthy dose of Springsteenesque rock evangelism that warms and fulfills the soul. With a new album and rallying cry The Deadbeat Bang of Heartbreak City due early next year, Beach Slang is back after a rousing headlining performance at last year’s Music Is Art Festival that still banged hard in spite of a dull sound mix that still offends me over a year later, so tonight’s show at the Mohawk, the ideal location to see this band, should be hot. Opening the show will be fellow rock evangelists The Eaves and young pop outfit Mom Said No, who turned some heads[...]

Tonight: gus dapperton

November 9, 2019

Tonight futuristic dream pop star gus dapperton will be manifesting at the venerable Town Ballroom with up-and-coming soul man Spencer. gus is a definitely whole thing: highly self curated, vaguely alien and mysterious with an soulful chillwave sound that’s utterly compelling and ideal for stimulating all of those feelings. Spenser. meanwhile has the voice of a stoned John Legend, an ear for spacey melodies and tight hip hop beats; and a handful of singles on 4AD that definitely suggest he might be around for a while. Doors are at 7pm and tickets are $20.

Tonight: Bold Folly

November 1, 2019

Always turned up to 11 psych punks Bold Folly are back and they mean business tonight at Nietzsche’s with a skull crushing lineup featuring Aircraft, The Molice, and Zurich Cloud Motors. Everything about this show will make your ESP tingle because every band on this bill values melting your mind: the rededicated but no less bonkers Bold Folly are a force of nature, heady and nihilistic in equal measure and back with a surf punky new single; Aircraft’s melodic psych rock is shinier and heavier than ever before; while Tokyo punk heroes and honorary Buffalonians The Molice bring pure joy and tight riffs wherever they play. Zurich Cloud Motors, hailing from Indianapolis, Providence, and Buffalo, specialize in unhinged garage rock transmitted from a parallel universe. Get ready because it’s going to be way too much in the best ways possible. Doors are at 9pm and cover is $7. War games by Bold[...]

Tonight: Benny The Butcher

October 26, 2019

Already legendary Buffalo MC Benny The Butcher plays a long awaited and very highly anticipated and sold out hometown show tonight at the resurrected Showplace Theater. It’s been a crazy few years for Benny, as he and his Grizelda Records label mates Westside Gunn and Conway The Machine can’t seem to stop levelling up of late, signing up with Jay-Z’s Roc Nation management outfit and Eminem’s Shady Records while representing for Buffalo on tracks with Anderson Paak, Pusha T and working with East Coast luminaries like Alchemist to keep the flame of 90’s hardcore hip hop alive. With big moves and two album out this year, his solo EP The Plugs I Met and the just released Statue Of Limitations with Pete Rock protege Smoke DZA, 2019 is shaping up to be a big year for Benny, and his hometown has been clamoring hard to celebrate his success so tonight’s going to[...]

Tonight: The Leones 5th Annual Halloween Bash

October 19, 2019

Batavia psych rock gurus The Leones are back with their beloved Halloween show at the Mohawk with a psycho killer lineup featuring Aircraft, The Tins and Moody Cosmos. The spooky Samhein vibes will be in full effect, featuring intensely trippy jams all night long, tasteful Halloween holiday kitsch curated by Justin Bachulak, the choicest VHS horror in all their grainy, gory analog glory; and costumes are strongly encouraged. Doors are at 8pm and cover is $5 unless you bring a new Halloween costume (in the package) to donate to a worthy kid who deserves to enjoy the holiday too. Songs From The Canyon by The Leones

Tonight: Electric 6

October 15, 2019

Detroit DIY rock heroes Electric 6 bring their MC5 meets New Wave meets 80’s hair metal assault on the milquetoast status quo to Mohawk Place tonight. Dangerous, trashy, and righteous, the prolific act is back in town after five long years to play some filthy jams from their latest release, 2018’s Bride Of The Devil. Opening the show will be davetv and heavy duty local punks Super-Tugger.  Doors are at 7pm and cover is $15. Bride of The Devil by Electric Six

Tonight: Anamon

October 11, 2019

13 years ago Buffalo was transformed forever when it got nailed with an October Storm it had never seen before: there was snow, thunder, and lightning, and huge, wet snowflakes brought down powerlines and hundreds (thousands?) of trees all over the fabled “City of Trees.” It was traumatic (and kind of fun), and young local indie heroes Halo Nellie are commemorating the whole thing tonight at Nietzsche’s with a killer indie show featuring Anamon, Circular Logic and Passed Out. Headlining visitors Anamon are a heartbreaking swell indie new wave outfit from Rochester with a sweetly dark sound that encompasses lo-fi, roadhouse blues, classic French pop, and new wave, with local thrashers Circular Logic,  emo punks Passed Out and gracious hosts and curators Halo Nello getting everything started. Doors are at 9pm and cover is $5. Purple, Green, and Yellow by Anamon

Tonight: WSTR

September 30, 2019

Tonight beloved DIY arts and performance space hosts Liverpool, UK pop punk band WSTR with Springfield Missouri’s emo punk outfit Hold Close. According to reports, WSTR have generated considerable buzz at home and it’s not hard to see why because their take on American pop punk is turned up to eleven, incredibly shiny, and very sharp elbowed thanks to their Northern, working class spirit (in England governmental, political, financial and media power is entirely concentrated in the south; you’re welcome), humor, and natural proficiency with profanity. Show openers Hold Close, have a whole midwestern arena friendly emo pop punk thing going on that kicks and hits you right in the emotions. Doors are at 7pm and cover is $15.

Tonight: Sons Of Luther Album Release Party

September 28, 2019

Tonight Mr. Goodbar is hosting a killer lineup of hot local bands headlined by The Sons Of Luther and featuring Deadwolf, The Leones and Cooler, giving you the perfect excuse to hang out with college kids on a Saturday night. The Sons Of Luther, the brainchild of musical polymath (and podcaster) Wren Werner, have been tastefully releasing some very tight modern rock singles over the past month and it all culminates with the release of their sophomore EP Do What You Can tonight when the full band bring it all together for your listening enjoyment. The beyond space-and-time psych rockers Deadwolf will be opening the show with  vibe heavy Batavia desert space rock outfit The Leones and Buffalo emo heroes Cooler. Doors are at 8pm and cover is $8. Do What You Can by Sons Of Luther

Tonight: Com Truise

September 25, 2019

Synthetic astronaut Com Truise brings his super chilled out brand of retro-futuristic electronica back to downtown Buffalo tonight at the Rec Room with special guests Photay and Beshken. On tour in support of his recently released fourth album Persuasion System, NYC native Com Truise aka Seth Haley has been patrolling the musical fusion borderlands that exist out of time and space between subsonic electrofunk, vaporwave, roller rink ecstasy, and neon soaked Vice City for the last decade, and his live show is a full on experience felt in the electrical impulses that are you soul and right on down to the quantum level, which basically means it’s a really good time. Opening the show and working on the crowd with experimental vibes will be NYC inner ear wizard Photay and Los Angeles DIY electronica act Beshken. Doors are at 7pm and tickets are $20.

superficial. – s/t

September 17, 2019

Speaking for myself a fair part of writing about local music is managing one’s enthusiasms and expectations to try to not get too carried away when something particularly tantalizing arrives via the inbox or emerges on the radar… or failing to do so entirely like I did after listening to Fredonia buzz band superficial.’s eponymous debut EP. Shimmering, mesmerizing, and completely compelling every second of it’s 15 minute running time, it bangs in a variety of ways from start to finish. Now ordinarily I’m not a stickler for rules but when it comes to putting out albums and EPs  there are a few as laid down by giants of bygone ages, and one of them is your first song better hit hard, unless you’re doing an intro in which case your second song has to or else, and superficial. satisfies with a flourish. All swirling synths and organs, “Intro” feels a little[...]

Tonight: Guerilla Toss

September 13, 2019

Tonight walk on the wild side at Sugar City when Boston by way of NYC avant garde funk band Guerilla Toss rolls through with Philly post punks Empath and local freaks Mallwalkers and Lesionread. Blending  arty NYC New Wave with noise, psychedelia and crazy funk, Guerilla Toss keeps your brain swimming in ideas and out there sounds that are simultaneously very listenable yet totally bonkers. Empath meanwhile, is psychedelic punk: raw yet freaky in the ear, and completely unbothered by your rules or your need for labels. Providing local support will be legendary punks Mallwalkers playing their penultimate local show, and avant provocateur  Lesionread. Tickets are $15 and doors are at 6pm.

Listening Party! at the Central Library

September 4, 2019

In an exciting development, the Central Library in downtown Buffalo is now hosting a weekly Listening Party for lovers of hot new music to come together to listen and discuss fresh new albums Wednesdays over the next seven weeks. Seriously, check out this rather well curated line up: 9/4: Jay Som, Anak Ko 9/11: Tool, Fear Inoculum 9/18: Charlie XCX, Charli 9/25: Shredders, Great Hits 10/2: !!!, Wallop 10/9: Tegan and Sara, Hey, I’m Just Like You 10/16: Angel Olsen, All Mirrors The Buffalo and Erie County Library is clearly not messing around with this listening party series, and in case you missed it they don’t mess around with their music collection either if you’re library card enabled. The Listening Party series runs from 3pm to 5pm Wednesdays in the West Room of the downtown Central Library.