Album of the Week

Venus Vacation – Muggerhugger

August 13, 2018

Muggerhugger, the latest release from Venus Vacation (formerly known as Major Arcana) is a hard album to place. That’s not only because the vocals, song structures and levels of intensity are so unpredictable (though they are, and compellingly so). It’s because of the tension between the feel of the songs and the songs themselves. Tension, here, being a good thing, the sort of thing that makes the 7-song ride of Muggerhugger so interesting. It’s impossible not to pay attention when Muggerhugger is playing, and not because it’s aggressively experimental or experimentally aggressive. It’s because you’re always trying to figure out your relationship to these songs. Passive listener? Melancholy comisserator? Blissed-out romantic? Where you stand changes rapidly, often in the course of a single track, and you’ve got to keep up or start the song over. What is this driving tension, exactly? On one hand, you’ve got a band with an[...]

Chill Ali – FREE YA MIND

July 23, 2018

Rising Buffalo-based emcee, Chill Ali, earns his moniker with his latest, long-gestating project, FREE YA MIND. This nine-track offering, which Chill served as both rapper and producer, is two years in the making. The thought and dedication that went into the process is obvious, but as a result Chill has created a superbly cerebral and zen indie-rap album that shows promise of the spitter’s budding signature sound. As a producer, Chill’s productions are spotlight stealing and mess with your senses and perceptions in the best way possible. Hypnotizing beats reverb, melt and ungulate with the syrupy influence of the Houston and cloud surfing hip-hop scenes. The closing title track in particular will massage your brain and get your head nodding in euphoric satisfaction. As a wordsmith, Chill floats over his dreamy beats with a cool and assured flow. His subject matter varies from Buffalo street raps, personal anecdotes and third-eye[...]

SLINKY X – Darn

July 16, 2018

SLINKY X’s Darn is a feelgood summer record if, for you, feeling good in the summer means waking up late and groggy on a Sunday, throwing on yesterday’s clothes, jumping in the car and stopping at the gas station on the way to a party because, while you didn’t have enough time in the morning to brush your teeth or shower, you have plenty of time to buy beer. In that moment, this is the disc you’d pop into your CD player (you’d be playing music off your phone, but you dropped it in a swamp last Tuesday and haven’t bothered to replace it). Darn is fuzzy garage-pop, with riffing guitars laying the base for matched-up male-female vocals that alternate between “ba-ba-bas” and cheeky lines like: “My brain feels like a slinky… always feel like I’m drinking/soda water from the sinky.” That line, from lead track and standout “slinky,” sets the[...]

Soft Opening – Don’t Like Most Things

July 9, 2018

Don’t Like Most Things, the new release from Rochester’s Soft Opening, is not nearly as misanthropic as the title suggests. Far from it, in fact – the best moments of the album spring from longing for connection, not denying it. The first song, “Don’t Bury Me Yet,” kicks off with distorted and strutting hard rock machismo, but it’s just a feint. It’s almost immediately undercut by a cleaner guitar and a cooing saxophone that launch us into something closer to Dinosaur Jr. than T. Rex. Singer and songwriter Justin Pallini soon begins to catalog his fear of death by bodily breakdown: “Feeling swollen, aching knees/Body’s breaking, takes what it needs/Getting harder and harder to breathe… Soon, I’ll die, won’t I?” The humming sax lines, quick tempo and over-the-top neuroticism keep the mood light, as if he knows the obsession is ludacris and counter-productive. He just can’t help himself. “Love Dumpster”[...]

Worse Things – Self-Titled

June 11, 2018

Worse Things is a fresh new three-piece from Buffalo whose debut EP is currently ripe for your listening pleasure. A self-titled endeavor, Worse Things is a six-song EP full of heavy and swirly post-hardcore/emo. Their emotive sound is propelled largely by grungy guitars and gravely vocals; it smarts of fellow sludgy emo-centric bands like Citizen, Basement, or Glassjaw. Opening track “Stay Away” is a burst of emotional energy and acts as a perfect introduction to Worse Things’ songwriting approach. First and foremost, this trio truly embraces the nature of being a three piece. Sure, guitar leads and flourishes pepper these tracks throughout the EP… But guitarist Zach Bennett layers his main guitar thick with distortion and swirly modulation, while bassist Anthony Fadale holds down a thick low end. Drummer Rob Ohlenschlager is full of energy, filling every song with precise, blistering drum fills. Loud, lush bands like Worse Things typically function best as a[...]

Hop Hop – Scratch

June 4, 2018

Hop Hop (aka Jaz Frazier) has delivered us from evil and boredom and into the future on her inspired and hypnotically irresistible new EP Scratch, and it’s our enthusiastic Album of the Week. A precision MC that bends time and space with her impeccable flow so that every consonant, vowel, word, and complex thought comes at you as if it (and you) are suspended in space like the visual effects in The Matrix movies and given a chance to inspect and savor all of it, Hop Hop does not play on Scratch, sharing and going deep while giving you the funky beats and jams you need. A concentrated headrush, Scratch comes at you fast with a fully realized sound that fills your ears with all kinds of incredible sonic sweetness courtesy of the pristine and ambitious production from Jaz and Brandon Schlia. There’s a fine sense of whimsy at work[...]

Saturn V - LP

Saturn V – s/t

May 21, 2018

Buffalo three-piece, Saturn V have been making all the right moves following their EP, two songs, released last November. Since then the band has been blowing away crowds as they make a name for themselves in the local punk circuit. Saturn V dropped their first self-titled LP earlier this month that’s full of brash energy and a killer tempo from start to finish. The record opens up with the song, “weight,” which begins deceptively tame before Saturn V presses on the gas midway through and launches into a breakneck punk flourish. There’s a small moment right before the band really speeds things up. It isn’t a revolutionary musical breakthrough and only involves a quick 4 count on the sticks, but it just sets the tone for “weight” and Saturn V’s self-titled as a whole. The record is stripped of any unnecessary chaff and instead, gets right down to it. Over the course of[...]

Darth Nater – A Century Ago

April 30, 2018

Buffalo-based singer-songwriter Nate Noworyta is back with another release under the stage name Darth Nater. Titled A Century Ago, it is his 7th overall release of solo material through this outlet. The new record spins tales inspired by people, places, and events from the year 1917. Musically, A Century Ago is a varied tapestry, weaving elements of folk, Americana, pop, rock, jazz and even emo sounds. Acoustic guitar, banjo, mandolin, and ukulele all engage in passages of melodic, proficient, energetic and stirring instrumental interplay, adding up to a perfect collision of traditional folk instrumentation and contemporary alt. rock riffing. Drums and electric guitar make occasional appearances to supply heft, while flourishes of clarinet, flute and trumpet show up to adorn the surfaces. The vocals are slightly wild, yet smooth and polished, like early 2000s emo. When paired with the acoustic instrumentation, the overall sound is reminiscent of groups like AJJ[...]

Space Cubs –What Iff

April 16, 2018

From the start, the reborn band Space Cubs cultivated a much needed air of mystery, from their magical debut last summer somewhere in Allentown to a captivating show at the Mohawk before disappearing to record What Iff, their excellent debut EP and our Album of the Week, and praise be, that glorious mystery is very much intact. Dreamy yet precise and very much  fully realized, What Iff only hints at this band’s tremendous potential, offering a  tantalizing glimpse into a possible future for  Buffalo’s music scene that you can totally get down to, which is always welcome. Originally a one woman bedroom dream pop project from Suzanne Bonifacio, Space Cubs expanded, assimilating electronic artist and enfante terrible Shawn Lewis as well as scene mainstay Ken Culton and Adam Pressley to become something beautifully new, and “Gnaw” captures that metamorphosis  perfectly in sonic amber. Hazy loops and haunted vocals give way to a de-tuned, underwater piano, buffeted[...]

Comfy – Thanks For The Ride

March 12, 2018

If you’re at all familiar with the upstate NY music scene, chances are that you know Comfy. The Utica-sourced garage pop act, which serves as the musical brainchild of Connor Benincasa, is known for its highly energetic live shows, feelings-on-his-sleeve style of songwriting, and general relatability. Benincasa recently packed up and shipped out to Philadelphia, but that hasn’t slowed his roll. The move seems to be the creative catalyst behind Comfy’s highly-anticipated sophomore album Thanks For The Ride–an unwavering rock-and-roll record self-described as an “exercise in independence,” also netting our album of the week. The hype that has waxed during the four years since Comfy’s debut Pillowhugger is not without warrant–not only is the album a local slam-dunk, but it picked up a bit of national attention when Rolling Stone (yeah, that Rolling Stone) named Pillowhugger one of the top 10 cassettes of 2014. All hype aside, Thanks For The[...]

Post Prom – Changing Weather

February 19, 2018

It’s mid-February, and winter should be in full force here in Buffalo… Instead we’ve been subjected to wild temperature changes and bizarre precipitation – topical, especially in the case of Buffalonian quartet Post Prom. Their debut EP, Changing Weather, came out earlier this month, and whether it was intentional or not, CW certainly lives up to its name. Last summer, the band was hard at work writing; they recorded the EP in the autumn and finally released it in the winter… All in all, these songs document the evolution of a new band across the changing seasons, and now, it’s our Album of the Week. Without wasting any time, Post Prom launch right into their upbeat title-track, EP opener “Changing Weather.” Fans of the Starting Line or Fall Out Boy, early aughts-style, will find themselves right at home. Sometimes, there’s just no substitute for fast tempos and energetic guitar-driven songs (set off by lead guitarist Charlie Rumfola’s snappy, nimble[...]

Passive Aggressives Anonymous – The Mauve Album

February 12, 2018

The Mauve Album is the perfect title for Passive Aggressives Anonymous’ first full-length release. The Rochester band’s music has more in common with the shade of violet than you might think–both have a pleasant and mostly disarming initial appearance, but upon scratching the surface you’ll find a little something extra. For Passive Aggressives Anonymous–or ‘PAA’–a band whose call to glory is their expertly-arranged romantic lounge style of instrumentation, that “something extra” comes in the form of frontman John Valenti’s tongue-in-cheek vocal delivery, which remains unabashedly intact on the new album. The Mauve Album is buffaBLOG’s Album of the Week. For those unfamiliar with PAA and have no idea what I mean by “tongue-in-cheek” vocal delivery, allow me to paint a picture. You’ve booked a suite in a hotel that’s near overly classy (not a t-shirt in sight, decked-out lobby bar, red velvet everywhere, etc.), but something about the elegance is[...]

Seafox – Eulogy of the Angels

February 5, 2018

Harnessing musical influence into something fresh and original is no easy feat. Unless you’re Seafox. The Buffalo-based folk-pop band upended the scene late last year with its impressive sophomore full-length Eulogy of the Angels, channeling the likes of Beck, Pink Floyd, My Morning Jacket, MGMT, and more. The amalgamation of these influences brought to the table something ambitious yet near-perfectly executed, as well as our album of the week. As the sophomore effort of singer/songwriter William Fortier, Eulogy carries some serious weight. A full ten songs deep and somewhat of a departure from the solo singer/songwriter vibes of Fortier’s debut Colours, the album enmeshes acoustic folk with some of the catchiness of modern alternative for a blend that makes repeat listens easy and often. Having begun initially as Fortier’s solo project, Seafox has evolved with the recruitment of brother Eric Fortier on bass/keys and Kevin Pryles on drums. Together, the[...]

Cooler – Buried

January 29, 2018

If the late 2000’s were a type of coming of age for the skinny jeans wearing, flatiron worshipping scene kids of the world, right around now is their approaching quarter-life crisis, and Buffalo trio Cooler is here to provide the soundtrack with their recently released EP, Buried. Cooler’s brand of indie-emo wears its careful cultivation like a fine wine, funneling that youth-driven angst into rigorous precision, vocal interplay, and a healthy layer of fuzz. As the band’s third release, it’s clear they’ve shot through the polite awkwardness of a new band learning their way and are joined at the head in a synchronicity that’s iron-tight. The EP shows off modern emo as multidimensional, if not more accessible to the mainstream. Through its five tracks, the band broods over a complex array of emotions, each with their own individual flavor and essence. “Will-o-the-Wisp” starts the ball rolling with hearty group vocals,[...]

Eric Beeny – Glass, the Wall’s Ghost III

January 22, 2018

Local indie folk singer-songwriter Eric Beeny’s latest project is part three in a series of albums under the moniker Glass, the Wall’s Ghost. The self-titled record (Glass, the Wall’s Ghost III) is his most unified piece yet, with a cohesive and polished flow throughout. Using only an 8-track digital portastudio and a condenser microphone, the album was recorded entirely at Beeny’s home. Engineered, produced and performed completely by himself, the album feels inherently all his own and extremely intimate. The songs are meditative and melancholic, reckoning with themes of death and despair. Throughout his GtWG series of albums, he has brought the listener on an emotional journey through his own personal trials and tribulations. This third installment is no different, and finds his words more contemplative and story-like. Musically, the record is steeped in hushed bedroom folk akin to Bon Iver, with ornamental elements of dream electronica in the vein[...]