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Ex-Pat – Does Life

Rolling solo when it comes to creative projects, especially music, comes with perks. For starters, you’ve got virtually unlimited creative space to wander around in. And with nobody to answer to but yourself, the exploration of that space becomes entirely unhindered and worth the wander. That musical wanderlust makes all too much sense to Ex-Pat, or Patrick Weil, whose experimental dreampop is a headtrip, a vacation, and a bit of sonic time travel all rolled into one package. His newest album Does Life hones in on a certain soulful airiness and polishes it as much as the lofi designation will allow. Does Life is our album of the week. Ex-Pat’s signature is as hazy as it is deliberate, much akin to the experimental stylings of Ariel Pink and the lofi tremble of newer artists like Elvis Depressedly. Does Life is decidedly less noisy than previous endeavors, focusing now on a[...]

dreambeaches – Disappearing Act

dreambeaches is a band who needs little, if any, introduction around Buffalo right now. The quartet has been making waves on the local indie rock circuit for a few years now, and after an electrifying show last week (and a forthcoming tour to boot) to celebrate the release of their latest EP, the band is bound for more than just a bit of local success. dreambeaches’ new EP Disappearing Act is our album of the week. Disappearing Act picks up just about where the band’s 2016 EP Habits left off, tightening the screws on their unique blend of math-infused indie pop. If you enjoy bands like Bombay Bicycle Club and Foster the People but crave a little something more out of your indie rock, Disappearing Act has your name all over it. The EP finds its best moments in sheer walls of tangled and exacting instrumentation, swooning choruses, and vocal harmonies[...]

Total Yuppies – CARE EP

Punk rock has a penchant for being uninviting. It’s just the nature of the genre–loud, often incomprehensible yawps from politically-charged bandleaders backed by blasts of noise. I’m not shitting on punk (I enjoy my fair share), but I realize these are some pretty broad strokes I’m painting with. My angle–punk rock is also a vastly multi-faceted genre. Take Total Yuppies for example–their flavor is decidedly punk, yet they somehow remain infinitely relatable and fun to listen to. Their lyrics are accessible, their melodies and progressions at once infectious and gritty. Their latest release, CARE EP, impresses once again, a testament to their ever-tight delivery of material and the quality of the material itself. CARE is our Album of the Week. CARE is both an appropriately and somewhat ironically titled record; the band strays from the emotionally-steadfast plane of punk rock with lyrics and themes that slice with every day relevancy. The 5 song[...]

M.A.G.S. – S/T

Our city’s been waiting on this one for a while now. We now have a full-length from M.A.G.S. I repeat: a full length from M.A.G.S. It’s been two and a half years since the band’s debut EP Cellophane made waves in the local scene and beyond, solidifying frontman Elliott Douglas’ status as the posterchild of local indie rock. Between then and now, M.A.G.S. has played a truckload of shows, landed licensing deals, and amassed a sizeable following on social media. Now with their self-titled debut album under their belts, there’s not much that can stop the M.A.G.S. train. Album opener “Real Talk” is a fast and furious blast of garage rock with an energy level to parallel “My Love,” one of the best tracks off of Cellophane (and most popular songs to date). Not surprisingly, “My Love” has been re-recorded and included on the full-length. M.A.G.S. seems to be in[...]

Ben Morey & The Eyes – Mt. Doom

Rochester is a great city to be a musician nowadays. There is no shortage of fellow musicians, like-minded individuals, and just general support of the arts, and Ben Morey knows it. Though initially planned as a solo album, Morey’s latest–the brilliant and grandiose Mt Doom–fully utilizes this exceptional network of people, a near countless number of musicians coalesced  into what might be considered the city’s greatest supergroup–The Eyes. Featuring contributions from members of just about every prominent act around Rochester, Mt Doom brims with ambition and sparkles with creative influence. Though the album’s official release was over a month ago, physical copies (vinyl and tapes!) begin shipping out next week, so what better time for an album of the week feature? After listening to Mt Doom a few times, it is difficult to imagine the songs as the lo-fi 4-track recordings they were originally slated for. The album is home[...]

Overhand Sam – Longer Legs

Rochester’s Sam Snyder is forever a busy musician. Splitting time between playing guitar in Brooklyn’s Maybird (currently gearing up for October tour dates with Portugal the Man and The Babe Rainbow) and his self-written, self-recorded, self-produced solo project Overhand Sam (or OHS) could be a full-time job considering the amount of material both acts pump out. Maybird is riding high on the recent release of their Unraveling EP, produced by Patrick Carney of The Black Keys, and somehow Snyder found time in between to put out a full-length’s worth of the haziest psychedelia bangers I’ve heard in a while. Overhand Sam’s Longer Legs is our album of the week. It’s not nearly accurate enough to call Longer Legs a mere continuation of 2015’s Long Legs, though the similarities exist. In addition to reworked versions of previous tracks “Bitter” and “Nothing Worse Than Waiting,” both records bask in lo-fi excellence, a[...]

Hieronymus Bogs – Lowlives Divine

We’ve written about Hieronymus Bogs before. For the uninitiated, the man is as unique as they come. Blending elements of orchestral folk and spoken word poetry, Bogs has made his songcraft well known around western New York and its surrounding areas with an extensive catalogue and touring. Once a Rochester native, Bogs now resides in Truth or Consequences, NM–an area which suits his character well–”my musical direction was pulling me west through the landscapes and sparseness; I think my music sits well in this kind of environment,” Bogs says of his new homebase. His newest album Lowlives Divine builds on his strengths of inspired lyricism over eclectic folk instrumentation for songs that excel in the creation and maintenance of freeing moods and feelings. It’s an interesting thing, moodcraft. It’s one thing to write a song, the structuring of intro verse chorus verse outro. It’s another thing entirely to endow such[...]

Jon Lewis – Exquisite Corpse

Jon Lewis is a pretty much a staple in the Rochester music scene. The hard-working musician is more or less a fountain of new material, be it from his well-rounded solo project Jon Lewis Band, or his Wiggles-inspired educational alter-ego Mr. Loops. This week we’re checking out his brand new full-band album Exquisite Corpse, which proves Lewis’ shining time as a musician and songwriter is all but fleeting. Exquisite Corpse drives home the idea that unadulterated indie rock is not dead. So many mainstream acts today aim to reinvent the genre–often times favoring decadence over organic musicianship–in an effort to distance themselves from the ordinary; the result can barely be considered indie rock. This exodus of sorts has left a void–a void that Lewis seems to fit perfectly. With a pop rock sensibility to rival that of Matthew Sweet and hooks around every corner, there is no shortage of catchy material[...]

Ian McCuen – Songs of Fleeting Permanence, Vol. 1

Sometimes it’s not easy to be a musician. There is an element of vulnerability you must subject yourself to in order to find even a marginal amount of success. This, of course, rings true with most aspects of art in general, but there exist certain musicians who go beyond this unspoken requirement, laying all cards on the table face-up in an effort to further substantiate their craft. Ian McCuen is one of those musicians. In his first solo release–the exceptionally reflective Songs of Fleeting Permanence, Vol. 1–McCuen stirs up the acoustic singer-songwriter archetype with an interesting concept series chronicling a pivotal period in his life. Volume 1 of that series is our Album of the Week. It is through McCuen’s Fleeting Permanence series in which one can vicariously live (or relive) these moments of self-discovery. The tangibility of heartbreak, uncomfortable social situations, mortality, regret, alcohol–Fleeting Permanence grapples each of these[...]

Sonny Baker – Easier

There’s not much to say about Sonny Baker that hadn’t already been said. The Buffalo musician has been a staple of the local scene for over a decade now, having had associations with more musical acts than I can count on one hand. Between full-band freak outs and introspective singer-songwriter pieces–and everything in between–Baker’s musical resume is impressive for a man only just nearing his 30s, and he just keeps churning it out. Baker’s latest release Easier, a collaborative effort with Chris Groves (Fourem, Applennium) follows suit with his 2015 full-band EP Flesh it Out in that the songs seem to widen the gap between what would otherwise be considered Sonny’s “solo material.” Groves’ role in the batch of songs is as integral as it is backgrounded, providing multi-instrumental support on most of the tracks that propels the music beyond the boundary of a typical singer-songwriter affair. Groves also recorded[...]

Folkfaces – How Long?

Folkfaces is a Buffalo band that falls beyond the typical confines of categorization. Their unique blend of americana, folk, and jazz is loud, rustic, and organic; there is an inherent genuineness to their craft. If I were looking for an easy way out, I could slap a “roots rock” label on them and call it a day, but with elements of ragtime, alt-country, and alt-gypsy involved, their music defies that boundary effortlessly. It is best to define them as undefinable, and give them an honest listen. They’d probably like it that way, anyway. Their latest album How Long?  sprawls 8 tracks over their road map of musical genres, and with multiple songwriters and musicians at the helm on any given track, the influence varies greatly. From the back-country banjo charm of “Institution Blues” (this one may sound familiar, as it was released as a single earlier last year), to the rowdy foot-stomping pandemonium[...]

Tonight: Coca-Cola Death Squad

Coca-Cola Death Squad, the Buffalo-bred, St Louis-based brainchild of percussionist Cameron Rogers, makes a homecoming appearance at Sugar City tonight. The unique musical project, which harnesses the prowess of two drummers simultaneously, ditches standard time signatures for highly-textured polyrhythms, beats, and sounds. Equal parts mathy, noisy, and downright shamanistic, the drum duo is touring in support of its newest release Brain Power II, which melds all that aforementioned madness into a concise 7 tracks. Rounding out the all local(ish) bill is fuzzy lo-fi duo Space is Haunted and and experimental improv act Rat v Cat v Bat. Additionally, vegan-friendly black bean soup will be available free of charge, while supplies last. Music, soup, and friendship? See you there. Doors at 7pm, $5 suggested donation.

Tonight: Lucy Dacus

Lucy Dacus is on the rise. Her trending debut LP No Burden makes indie rock seem effortless, and garnered the interest of multiple record labels before its eventual release on Matador. Dacus’ delivery is exceptionally mature for a 21-year-old; the Richmond-based songstress weaves a warm alto through her hyperaware observations and swirling guitar leads. Fans of Wye Oak, Angel Olsen, or pseudo-locals Bethlehem Steel would dig Dacus. She is an artist worth checking out in a live setting this early in her young career, and tonight is your chance. She makes a pit stop at the Tralf later tonight to showcase her craft. Tourmates Spooky Cool, also from Richmond, will provide opening support with Buffalo dream-pop pals Mutual Friends rounding out the indie-rock gem of a bill. Doors open at 6pm, tickets can be had here for ten bucks apiece.

Various Artists – Coast to Coast: Recordings from the Bedroom

Our Album of the Week comes from four different artists this week, in the form of a starry compilation from the Buffalo-bred, San Francisco-based record label Joysdead. The compilation, aptly titled Coast to Coast Vol 1: Recordings from the Bedroom, features prominent local musicians from both sides of the country—Buffalo’s Alex Berkley, Roger Bryan, and Ray Fulton, and San Francisco’s Sean Mikula (formerly of Buffalo). If you couldn’t deduce from the title, the collection features tracks that forgo the crispness of high-quality production for the glorious little imperfections of self-recording. The first thing that struck me about Coast to Coast is just how interpretative the term “bedroom recording” can be. All four songwriters on the compilation contributed very different tracks, making the collection particularly listenable. To Mikula, it is a method of self-recording that involves drum machines, multi-instrumentation, and synths (much like the stylings of his Buffalo baby Besnyo), while[...]

Coral Collapse – Post New York

Buffalo dream-pop quartet Coral Collapse has barely allowed a year to pass before offering up some fresh new material, and nobody’s complaining. Drawing comparisons to airy indie contemporaries like Wild Nothing and DIIV, Coral Collapse has built their platform on the same soaring soundscapes, only with an endearing, almost garage-ish charm. And continuing in the wistfulness of last year’s debut EP Hafla, the band’s new EP, Post New York, is a concise 4 tracks of indie-pop bliss and our album of the week. Dream rock bands don’t have it especially easy right now. The genre, in its relatively crowded state, is teeming with bands that follow the indie pop cookie cutter. Many of them are able to craft good solid tracks, but the real issue is standing out. Offering up something tweaked ever-so-slightly—tracks that don’t get inadvertently get lost in the sonic white noise. Coral Collapse finds the perfect balance[...]