Album of the Week

Autoignition – Against The World

May 28, 2026

Autoignition has been quietly… actually, no, loudly taking over Buffalo’s pop punk scene since their inception in 2021. We’ve been excited to hear what they’ve been up to since we heard a brand new single, “Not For Nothing,” a few months ago. After three (3) years between releases, the band has finally dropped a five-song EP, Against The World, a collection of songs that’s probably exactly what you’d be expecting from this super raucous quartet. Plan for full-throttle pop punk with angsty vocals around a massive, guitar-driven core… And a few big bass lines that would make Mark Hoppus proud. We can’t ignore the sheer energy found here on Against The World, so for that reason (and a few more), it’s our Album of the Week this week.   Speaking of Hoppus-esque bass lines, the album starts out strong with the aforementioned “Not For Nothing.” This song is Autoignition at their most[...]

Beach Glass – Closure

May 15, 2026

Who would have ever thought that a band making real music would be… refreshing? Beach Glass is a Buffalo-based duo doing just that. Harkening back to the halcyon days of Tascam recorders, honest feelings, and no autotune, their latest offering is the five-song Closure. Supremely ’90s-influenced and sincere as all get out, these songs are sure to end up on some obscure IG post touting the latest and greatest in real emo… We’ll put it this way – fans of bands with a Kinsella brother in them are going to like Beach Glass.   Opening song “Second Largest City (In New York)” is an ode to Buffalo in all its rotting, rusty glory. Twanging guitars stumble over rolling drums. Heartfelt vocals sing and scream about the (arguably) dilapidated state of our beautiful city – and it’s hard not to notice the parallel’s to the singer’s mindset. Sure, talking to therapists[...]

War Bond – An Act of Treason

May 7, 2026

Politically-charged Buffalo hardcore recruits, War Bond, take your ass to boot camp with their irreverently outspoken debut, An Act of Treason.   Born from the scene in February 2025, War Bond is vocalist Ky Reynolds (Brain Dead, Raggedy Anne), bassist Richard Bertucca, guitarists Shanahan Roach (Immolated) and Cole Blasz (Havana Syndrome, Monomaniac) and drummer Nick Haring (Detemps/Entemps). In its short existence, the band has been busy grinding out gigs and boosting its profile thanks to an angry artillery of crossover hardcore punk calloused with political animosity. The headstrong five-piece stands up for basic human rights and staying true to yourself while standing against ICE goons and the continued assault on Palestine. On An Act of Treason, the band channels this ideological rage and more into ten bombastic tracks of old school melodic hardcore that will leave you shell shocked.   The record begins with the groovy, mid-tempo warm-up track “March[...]

Personal Style – Garbage Can E.P.

April 23, 2026

It’s not often we’re met with a release that has everyone standing up from their figurative seats, but Buffalo-based band Personal Style continues to exhibit the kind of skill that only builds on their hype with their new four-song Garbage Can E.P. – a pulsating post-punk serenade that scratches all the right itches and further cements the group as one of the most exciting outfits in the region.   Formed in the fall of 2019, the project brings together Bryan Johnson, Evan Wachowski, and Stephen Floyd, a trio of local scene stalwarts. With a collective 15+ years spent cutting their teeth in Buffalo’s DIY circuit under various monikers (Mapmaker, Patchwork, Bryan Johnson and Family, Mallwalkers, many more), these veterans have traded their individual histories for a cohesive new chapter with the project. Garbage Can E.P. was recorded with Jay Zubricky (GCR Recording Studio) and Justin John Smith (Mammoth Recording Studio),[...]

Kill Uncle – We Are the Wicked

April 16, 2026

Buffalo harcore punk quartet Kill Uncle lash out with ten new tracks of perpetually pissed-off hardcore punk on their killer debut album We Are the Wicked.   Founded by lead vocalist Billie Page (Lockjaw, Wrong the Oppressor) in the Spring of 2023 at the encouragement of a friend, the line-up solidified with the recruitment of Khari Waits (Onnpoint, Disrepair, Hostile Thoughts), bassist Sean Reverie (Reverie, Makeshift Graves) and drummer Dan Marin (Coterie of Stern, Skags). Since then, Kill Uncle has wasted no time building up a profile with a steady stream of Black Flag and horror punk-inspired releases while rocking stages across the 716.   We Are the Wicked opens with the squealing dissonant strings of “I Am in Hell Help Me,” a previously released single and excellent table-setter to the band’s abrasive buffet. What stands out instantly are Page’s distinctive barking vocals; delivered with enough force and ferocity to[...]

Mikayla Manke – I Want to Feel Like I’m Home

April 9, 2026

The best music, whether written quickly or slowly, is never created urgently; instead, it unfolds naturally, with care, and over a period of time representative of the artist’s present circumstances. This sentiment is especially reflective in Buffalo-based singer-songwriter Mikayla Manke’s debut solo record, I Want to Feel Like I’m Home – a vulnerable, eclectic exploration of the different places and people we leave, visit, and return to in an attempt to ultimately return to ourselves. Permeating with intention, Manke leverages the very songwriting ability that platforms her band Spiria’s success while simultaneously pulling across electronic, acoustic and lofi influences to produce a body of work entirely unique to her.   Outside of the dreamy “Exiting the Maze,” a sonic anchor made years prior in her childhood bedroom, Manke wrote the majority of the record during a temporary stay in Binghamton, NY. It is this very sense of impermanence that translates[...]

Sleep Debt Ceiling – Worship the Disease

April 2, 2026

Sleep Debt Ceiling (SDC) is a folk-punk act from Buffalo, serving sardonic lyrics over raw instrumentals. Their latest offering is the four-song EP Worship the Disease, a perfect continuation of their previous releases like Demo EP, which we picked up on in late 2024. There’s nothing truly more punk/diy than a bunch of home recorded jams, filled with vitrol and angst – Worship the Disease was recorded last winter “between snowstorms…” And as any true Buffalonian knows, there’s not much more to do during a snowstorm than to drink, shovel, and write songs. For these reasons, Worship the Disease is our next Album of the Week.   Song one, “Plank Over Constant Slaughter” will give you perfect insight into SDC’s modus operandi. Literate lyrics delivered in a sneering sing-speak over a near constant acoustic guitar jangle – it’s not a stretch to compare it to Neutral Milk Hotel, or even late 2010’s emo acts like[...]

Del Paxton – Dogeared EP

March 19, 2026

It’s been 13 years and change since now-legendary trio Del Paxton debuted their brand of humble, everyman rustbelt-emo to the masses. I’m kidding, of course – their particular brand of scrongly, guitar-forward emo is about as archetypal to the genre as it could possibly be. Hammer-ons and pull-offs; big, beautiful bass parts; and punk (but like, refined punk) drumming are the typical m.o. for these three – not to mention their stubbornly DIY sound/ethos and seemingly infinite command of time signatures other than 4:4. Recorded at GCR studios with Jay Zubricky, their latest offering, the three-song Dogeared EP, is another proud, Buffalonian entry in their now lengthy oeuvre. All things considered, Del Paxton is inarguably one of the most important bands to come out of Buffalo since the turn of the millennium… It’s not a stretch to see them pop up as the latest feature in our Album of the Week[...]

Garden of Evil Doers – retaW ni tuB ,retaW fo edaM

March 12, 2026

Everyone can get behind a good concept album, right? Rochester act Garden of Evil Doers‘s latest album, the enigmatically-named retaW ni tuB ,retaW fo edaM (RNBRFE), certainly falls into that camp. It’s a nine song collection of folk, rock, and noises that meld together fluidly – Almost like its namesake. Astute readers will notice that this album title, read backwards, reveals a hidden message – “Made of Water, But in Water.” These songs are inspired by water as a holistic entity – from the way it flows to its use as the base of a healing broth for you and your loved ones (which I want to think is a tongue-in-cheek reference to project mastermind Leaphe Ferm’s time as drummer of perpetual buffaBLOG favorite Kitchen, but I digress). Ferm explains a bit more:   First, the band name:   “Garden in the mysterious, cultivated, thinking of the future, delicious, full of[...]

Sickness Anna – Sorry For Everything

March 5, 2026

“Mad and sad on purpose” is a mission statement to live and die by, perfect to represent the debut EP from newly-formed Buffalo trio Sickness Anna. Sorry For Everything (SFE) listens like a journal entry, six songs of heartfelt guitar rock, no doubt influenced by the 90s alternative greats like Smashing Pumpkins, and whatever wave of ephemeral emo/post-hardcore we’re currently on. A somewhat-subtle nod to frontman Nick Sessanna’s name (try switching the ‘N’ and the ‘S,’ folks), the band’s moniker is both self-referential and fitting, a pit-in-your-stomach vibe that feels morose. Joined by drummer Jake Sessanna and Everything in Waves frontman Anthony DelPlato (who mixed and mastered SFE and is also co-writer for his/Sessanna’s electronic project Jaugust), the trio slams through six heartbreakers, bringing new art to life while also burning ceremonial bridges tied to other eras. Also, we have to wonder, how did they get the iconic Buffalo landmark Cameron’s[...]

TAKER – Sons And Daughters

February 19, 2026

TAKER is a veritable Buffalo supergroup – featuring members of Violent Way, Corvo, Healer, They Live, Big Dog, Big School, Green Slime, Candy and more, their uncompromising brand of oi and punk rock needs little introduction or explanation. On new album, an eleven-song barnburner called Sons and Daughters, TAKER takes cues from The Ramones, The Misfits, and… Guided By Voices? Yeah, you read that right – this will more than likely be our only time mentioning oi and GBV in the same sentence, but hey, there’s a first (and probably last) time for everything. At any rate, the album is fast, ferocious, and energizing… And that’s why we’ve decided it’s our Album of the Week this week.   The album opens with the palm muted onslaught of “Reach Out” – an excellent introduction to TAKER’s stylings. The guitars do a lot of heavy lifting here, thundering overtop rolling tom beats.[...]

Shep Treasure – Blanket

February 12, 2026

The Rochester music scene has a knack for producing artists that turn ‘DIY’ on its head, churning out albums that feel vast and cinematic despite the studio-less approach. Shep Treasure, the long-running project of Sabrina Nichols, has spent the last several years refining a sound that bridges the gap between intimate bedroom pop and the explosive world of fuzz folk. With the release of their latest album, Blanket, Nichols–alongside partner and collaborator James Keegan–has delivered a record that feels like an organic detour from their 2018 origins, trading some of that early bedroom pop sheen for a deeply textured blend of freak folk and fuzzy, atmospheric slowcore.   Released on February 6th, Blanket arrives as our Album of the Week for its ability to feel both incredibly small and remarkably large at the same time. Recorded at home and mastered by Ben Morey at Rochester’s Submarine Sounds Studio, the album[...]

dolly sods – self titled

February 5, 2026

It’s a rare thing for a local project to appear, disappear, reappear, and somehow put together anything beyond a reunion show or an anniversary showcase. Local bands are fleeting by nature, it’s an inconvenient truth. Buffalo’s dolly sods, however, have been reborn from ashes. After a years-long hiatus following guitarist/vocalist Jesse James Kaufman’s stint in Brooklyn, the trio–originally formed in 2021 from a pedigree of local mainstays like Tomoreaux, Award Show, and Passed Out–is back on home turf. Their self-titled debut EP, released January 16th, isn’t really a comeback though… It’s more of a long-overdue introduction, and now it’s our album of the week.   Recorded at GCR Audio with Jay Zubricky, the EP captures this icy, cosmic weight that pairs well with these subzero temps we’ve endured for the past couple weeks. While the studio recordings feature original drummer Andy Pothier, the current lineup has since solidified with Monika[...]

Passed Out – I just don’t feel like myself anymore & Do you miss anything at all?

December 18, 2025

Buffalo’s own Passed Out has been a fixture of our local basement shows and bar stages for a decade now, but December 12th marks a massive shift for the five-piece. Instead of a standard release cycle, they dropped a massive double-feature on Buffalo mainstay label Harvest Sum: their first full-length LP, I just don’t feel like myself anymore, and a companion EP, Do you miss anything at all?. It’s a lot of ground to cover, especially since we haven’t had new music from them since 2021, but the wait feels justified. By splitting the songs across two releases recorded at different studios–Afterglow with Cody Morse for the LP and The Garden with Johnathan Bobowicz for the EP–the band gives us two moods to chew on. Both were tied together in the mixing stage by Justin John of Mammoth Recording, and then mastered by John Angelo, ensuring that despite the different[...]

Bugcatcher – Big Field

December 11, 2025

Rochester’s Jake Denning has been quietly chipping away at his distinct sound as Bugcatcher since the early days of the pandemic, crafting slowcore indie folk that’s always been hazy, quiet, and a little existential. On his latest full-length, Big Field, released November 5th on Raincoated Records, he leans fully into that genre blend—it feels like a slowed-down collision between Midwest emo introspection and twangy alt-country sadness, but done with a minimalistic approach that gets impressively lush at times. Think Hovvdy meets Pinegrove meets Wednesday and you’re pretty much right there, save for Bugcatcher’s proprietary secret ingredient–this ethereal stillness that permeates the whole thing. I’m calling it “lush hush.” Big Field is our album of the week.   There’s a clear evolution in the production this time around. While Denning has proved himself as a lo-fi artist on previous releases, Big Field steps away from some of the charmingly ragged edges[...]