Latest Posts

Three Acts to See at The Elmwood Village Festival of the Arts

August 23, 2014

This weekend, the Elmwood Village’s annual Festival of the Arts returns for another year of paintings, crafts, sculptures, and such. The less sweaty cousin to the Allentown Art Festival will stretch from West Ferry to St. James, filling the street with normally more people than concrete. In addition to art and food vendors, the festival will be offering a decent selection of musical acts to take in while you ponder over your purchase of another metal lawn sprinkle. So if you decide to catch some music this weekend at the fest, here are three options are worth your time. Photo by Steve Matthews Zak Ward – Saturday @ 7-11 Stage (2:00pm) The former frontman to Buffalo stalwarts, Son of the Sun, and current member of ’90s alt-cover act, Kurt & the Loders, continues to be a presence in the Buffalo music scene. Despite SOTS calling it quits late last year,[...]

Cottage Jefferson Prep Final Album, Release “Trapper Keeper” Single

August 21, 2014

Rochester’s Cottage Jefferson appeared to call it quits earlier this past May  with an advertised final show  at the Bug Jar. One day after the group played their final show, they posted that they had enough material to produce one last album to be released later in 2014. Cottage Jefferson’s final album, titled B-Side, had its first single premiere this morning via CJ’s bandcamp page. “Trapper Keeper” continues the foursome’s crunchy, college rock tendencies, and should please fans of Yuck and minimalistic Dinosaur Jr.. You probably won’t be seeing Cottage Jefferson touring in support of the album. Members are scattered all over the state now, playing in different projects such as blog favorites Routine Involvements, Pleistocene, and Faux Leather Jacket. Look out for the full length when its released in full on September 4th. In the meantime, here’s “Trapper Keeper.”

Gay Angel Releases Under The Radar Album, Places I’ll Eat, People I’ll Meet

August 21, 2014

One of the more interesting releases to grace our mail box this month has to be from Rochester’s Gay Angel. The moniker of singer/composer Jake Bellissimo, the musician recently released his latest album, Places I’ll Eat, People I’ll Meet, in late July. My first thoughts when listening to this album were that it is busy as hell. Look at the liner notes on the bandcamp page. Aside from Bellissimo, nearly 25 musicians contributed vocals, horns, strings, and more to the nine track album, which, according to Bellissimo, is “a collection of stories, people, sex, food, and music collected over the past 3 years.” Here is the thing though. While some artists compensate lackluster song writing with busier complex sounds, Gay Angel is one of the few that can combine swamped audio with quality. Its wild and all over the place at times, but I never once listened to the album and[...]

Harmonica Lewinski Releases First Single From Upcoming EP

August 20, 2014

We have been doing parties for the blog for nearly four years now, and I feel it’s safe to say that the set from Harmonica Lewinski at our fourth birthday party last March was my favorite yet. Making their debut Buffalo show, the band almost didn’t make it due to some out-of-nowhere snow that had them stuck on the I-90 for much of the early evening. Luckily for those in attendance, Harmonica showed up and delivered a tight, retro-tinged performance that lured everyone to a very crowded Duke’s dance floor. You can watch a clip from that performance right here. The band has been teasing some new material and subsequent tour all summer long, and early this morning, the wild Rochester surf punk crew released the first single from their forthcoming 7″ EP, Naked Brunch (9/11). Titled “Har Har Bizarre,” the song is a retro-synth based carnival-like track that maintains an eerie vibe[...]

Joe Mason Releases Video For “The Sun”

August 18, 2014

Late last week, Joe Mason released the music video for “The Sun,” a cut of Ariel Pink-esque, stoner pop-rock off of the musician’s self-titled debut album. Directed by avant-garde producer, Lesionread,  the clip shows Mason venturing in a Blues Clues set with an Uncle Sam hat on, amongst many other hijinx. Mason just released a new EP last Friday as well, titled Dirty Softies. You can listen to it over on his bandcamp page, and in the mean time, watch the video for “The Sun” below.

Just Announced: Jeff Tweedy

August 18, 2014

The Buffalo and Rochester areas are normally blessed with a Wilco show nearly every year, usually taking turns between the two cities. And while it doesn’t look like Wilco is doing much touring this fall, fans of the long time act will have the opportunity to catch front man Jeff Tweedy as he rolls through town later this fall with a date set at the Town Ballroom on Wednesday, October 1st. Tweedy will be touring in support of his new project, simply titled Tweedy, and its debut record, Sukierae. Set to drop on Tuesday, September 23rd, Sukierae finds Tweedy riding solo for the first time in his career, along with his teenage son Spencer on drums, and a cast of Chicago based musicians rounding out the group. I wasn’t sure what solo Tweedy material would sound like as it’s hard to hear his voice and not think Wilco, but after[...]

Andy Pothier Performs “Castaway” For River House Sessions

August 13, 2014

Buffalo folk musician, Andy Pothier (Pine Fever, The Evil Things), just posted a simple video for the title track to his last EP, titled Castaway, released earlier this year. Taped for the River House Sessions series, the video finds Pothier (who has that Conor Oberst thing going on) and guitar delivering a hushed performance during a peaceful August afternoon. Check out the video for “Castaway” below and if you like what you hear, head over to Pothier’s bandcamp page to download the full Castaway EP for a couple bucks.

Edgefest at the Outer Harbor (8/10/14)

August 13, 2014

103.3 the Edge’s annual Edgefest put the cap on a successful season of the Outer Harbor Concert series this past Sunday. Headliner Weezer played a welcomed, mostly old-school heavy collective of songs, much to the audience’s nostalgic pleasure. Brand New played a messy, yet fun set, while long time cult act, the Sheila Devine, and the home town heroes of Pentimeno provide stellar early support. For a complete write up of the show, check out Ron Walczyk’s full review here, but if you prefer a more visual reminder, then take a peak the gallery submitted by contributing photographer Andy Deluca below. For additional shots, make sure to follow Deluca on instagram. Weezer Brand New The Sheila Devine  

Just Announced: Stars

August 12, 2014

Toronto romantics, Stars, will return to Buffalo this fall to play to another full house of wide-eyed dreamers. After playing the Tralf last year, the long time indie-pop act, which is one of the many off shoots of Broken Social Scene and the Arts & Crafts Collective, is set to return to the Main Street venue on Sunday, November 23rd. The five piece just announced their latest album, No One is Lost (10/14), the follow up to 2012’s The North, and as of yesterday, the album’s first single, “From The Night,” is currently streaming online (and also below). Tickets go on sale this Friday, August 15th, for $20.

Just Announced: Heavy Rotation – Back To School Dance

August 12, 2014

The fall semester is quickly approaching, which means to many of us (not me, I am sadly 30), summer is nearing its inevitable end. We thought we could help ease the pain of returning to the books by finally having our second go-around of our Heavy Rotation dance party series. We debuted our first installment last fall as part of the Elmwood Village’s annual Mass Appeal event at the Pierce Arrow, and for this time around, we are taking over the back room of Hardware to showcase some of our favorite area DJs with our very own back-to-school dance. On Friday, September 12th, join us as Chauncey Tails, DJ Pizza Pizza, and Teenwolf will man the back while Rick Jameson (Spooky Sean of Spooky Business) will loosen everyone up as he gets things going in the front room. Heavy Rotation: Back To School Dance is a 21+ event. Music kicks[...]

Future Islands at Mr. Smalls (8/8/14)

August 11, 2014

This past weekend a couple of minor (okay, very minor) Buffalo imports hit up the Steel City as part of the Quad City Blogger Tour while one of Pittsburgh’s best-bred acts, the splice king Girl Talk, invaded Canalside. Hitching a ride with Buffalo Eats, a couple of us buffaBLOGGERS took full advantage of the wonderful accommodations that our host city, and more specifically the staff at Visit Pittsburgh, supplied. Between exploring some Pittsburgh attractions (the museum of megalomaniacal Andy Warhol may have been our favorite), and a lot of good eating and drinking (did I mention we traveled with Buffalo Eats?), we somehow managed to make a musical weekend out of it. Friday night in Millvale, about a ten minute drive across one of Pitt’s many bridges, we hit up Mr. Smalls for a sold-out performance from Baltimore’s Future Islands. It’s a super-quick ride over the river from downtown Pittsburgh[...]

Brimstone Blondes Sign To Admirable Traits, Release First Single

August 11, 2014

Brimstone Blondes, a new wavy (save the synths), post-punk revivalist four-piece, will see their debut EP, Age of Consent, released later this month via Admirable Traits Records, a label with Buffalo and Brooklyn roots. The album’s first single,”Social Smokers,” premiered this morning. Backed by peppy, crunchy chords, Matthew Danger Lippman (think David Byrne and Fred Schneider of the B-52’s), one of Buffalo’s most charismatic and confident frontmen, snarls his way through the frantic number, one of the seven new/revisited tracks to be found on Age of Consent. Long time live staple, “Get Lifted!,” also appears on the EP, given a fresh makeover from Brandon Schlia, Steak and Cake Records founder and Age of Consent producer. The band will celebrate the release of Age of Consent next week, Thursday, August 21st, at Buffalo Iron Works with support from Harmonica Lewinski and Wooden Waves. The 18+ show costs $10 to enter. Admission will include[...]

Just Announced: The Gaslight Anthem

August 11, 2014

New Jersey’s rousing, heartland rockers, the Gaslight Anthem, are set to to play Town Ballroom later next month on Wednesday, September 17th. Frequently drawing some Springsteen comparisons no thanks to lead singer Brain Fallon’s decidedly Boss-like vocals, and because New Jersey, the band’s latest record, Get Hurt, drops tomorrow. Providing support for the Gaslight Anthem will be Against Me!. The Gainesville act, led by Laura Jane Grace, has been making Buffalo a frequent stop as of late. Co-Presented by Funtime and After Dark Entertainment, tickets go on sale Friday, August 15th, at noon. Ticket prices are $26 in advance, $29 day of. Photo Credit – Ashley Maile

Future Islands

August 8, 2014

A about a month or so ago, we were reached out to by Visit Pittsburgh, the Steel City’s travel bureau, inviting us down to the city this weekend for something called a Quad City Blogger Tour. Bloggers from Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Columbus – the Quad Cities – were invited to check out the city, and write about their experiences. Seemed easy enough. Our long time blog buddies, Buffalo Eats, were also asked to come so we decided to make a road trip out of it. With Donnie and Ali (the Buffalo Eats crew) on hand, food and drink will be a flowin all weekend, but we needed some music hook for our writing. Lucky for us, one of 2014’s buzz bands, Future Islands, will be playing at Mr. Smalls this evening, so that helps us out quite a bit. The Baltimore based, post-punk/new wave act blew up this year[...]

Son of the Sun’s Zak Ward Drops First Single From Upcoming EP

August 6, 2014

After quietly disbanding late last year, members of Buffalo’s longtime act, Son of the Sun, have gone in a couple different directions. Drummer Brandon Delmont recently released a fantastic album along with fellow, former Girlpope member Mark Norris under the moniker of the Lindbergh Babies while guitarist Joseph Stocker is currently outfitting Buffalo’s sharply dressed men at the Elmwood Village’s tailored suit shop, Bureau. As for SOTS’s former lead singer, Zak Ward, a new EP is coming our way in the near future, titled That’s What You Get. The EP’s first single, “Who You Really Are,” was just dropped this morning via Ward’s soundcloud page, and it’s pretty great. A cut of sun kissed alt-country covered in some wonky effects, the tune features the aformentioned Delmont on percussion. “Who You Really Are” calls to mind M Ward, Summerteeth era Wilco, or Woods, and is a wonderful musical addition to the dog[...]