Album Reviews

Pink Elephant – Around Your Neck

September 4, 2017

Rochester garage/noise-rock outfit, Pink Elephant are hot off their recently released single, and have dropped a new LP, Around Your Neck on 20 Blood Records. The four piece consists of Eric Witkowski on vocals and guitar, Greg Wilcox rocking the bass, Jeff Thompson banging on the drums, and Nick Walter rounding out the group on guitar. Around Your Neck is a conjoined effort to put out some solid tracks that bridge the gap between pysch-noise and post-rock. What sets Around Your Neck apart from other alt-rock records is with its diversity. There’s so much going on with the record that things never get stale, like week old bread left out on the counter. These songs aren’t a band trying to reinvent themselves, or a band straining to be “different”. Instead, this diversity just shows how strong Pink Elephant are as a band. Songs like the title track, “Around Your Neck”[...]

Iron & Wine – Beast Epic

September 1, 2017

On his sixth studio album, Sam Beam feels like he’s come full circle. When he first started out, Iron & Wine was a solo acoustic vehicle, defined by his DIY lo-fi home recordings. With each subsequent release, his sound evolved and his band expanded, all the while helping to define the indie folk movement of the last decade. On Beast Epic, there is a shift back to an acoustic-centric focus, but with years of experience now giving both fresh weight and familiarity to this set of songs. Beam’s poignant, narrative lyricism and trademark hushed-vocals have always been the winning ingredient to Iron & Wine’s music. It is what has allowed him to glide seamlessly through different styles and sonic palettes during his career without losing the warmth and immediacy of his songwriting. No matter what’s happening on the surface, whether it’s the orchestral jazz-folk of 2013’s Ghost On Ghost, or[...]

Bare Mattress – Some Great Magnet Pulls

August 22, 2017

Albany bedroom electronica act Bare Mattress dropped a tasteful EP of low key jams at the end of last month by the name of Some Great Magnet Pulls, and it’s irresistible vaguely vaporwave sonic textures and pulsating basslines will be ideal for your late night and or early morning come down/chill out sessions. Wrapped around a sinewy guitar and minimalist synths, “Toil Is” feels like a mantra set to a neon 80’s beat  before a very British New Wave guitar solo pulls it all together. The British New Wave vibe continues on “Then What,” a tightly stripped down joint with a minimalist approach to the synths and an insistent Peter Hook baseline. “Leasejumper” trades 80’s electronic dance rhythms for a thunderous backbeat that echoes, suspended in space before floating back to earth on the gorgeous fade out that is the LIN drum and ear candy caress of “Stars.” As much I enjoy the warmth of a[...]

Roger Bryan and the Orphans – 9er

August 18, 2017

Buffalo indie rock veterans Roger Bryan and the Orphans are back with a sparkly new EP of material ideally timed for wrapping up the summer season, looking ahead to fall, and giving it all a fuzzy folk rock kiss. 9er is a tight and thoroughly refreshing burst of Midwestern/Rust Belt sonic and emotional earnestness that recalls the stomping, charged up vintage 90’s Wilco sound I’ve frankly kind of been missing these last few years. “Man Of Time” is a series of musical sweet spots hit: plaintive vocals and guitar strumming give way to bittersweet harmonies and potent yet understated riffs that verge on anthemic. Wistful and beguiling, “Nowhere Else” is a psychedelic country rock gem that keeps lifting itself higher with it’s casually intricate vocal harmonies and modestly triumphant guitar rock heroism, while lead single “Whylife” is all searching Gen X angst and soaring guitars before crashing you back to earth. 9er is a[...]

Manchester Orchestra – A Black Mile to the Surface

August 4, 2017

Indie rock stalwarts Manchester Orchestra have returned with their fifth album, A Black Mile to the Surface. It follows a several year gap that saw the departure of multi-instrumentalist Chris Freeman, the birth of founding member Andy Hull’s daughter, as well as Hull and lead-guitarist Robert McDowell scoring the Daniel Radcliffe-Paul Dano led film Swiss Army Man. The new record is yet another departure in sonic aesthetic, something the band has done with every release throughout their career. Starting out in the emo realm with I’m Like a Virgin Losing a Child in 2006, it has been a meteoric rise the last 11 years, with the band expanding and advancing their sound every step of the way, as they became one of alternative music’s more beloved acts. Each record has been a new experience that both builds on and pivots away from the previous one, first with supercharged alt.-rock (Mean[...]

Slow Dancer - In A Mood

Slow Dancer – In A Mood

July 7, 2017

“Less is more.” It may be one of those little things you’ve heard flutter by you, said on a commercial or by a wise elderly neighbor. So, in trying to be on the lookout for new and exciting music, the idea of “less is more” is sometimes not a criteria that’s really ever considered. The new record titled, In A Mood by Slow Dancer, released on ATO Records on June 9th, wants to make you rethink that notion. Slow Dancer is the stage name for vocalist and multi-instrumentalist, Simon Okely who hails from Melbourne, Austrailia. The strongest element on In A Mood is Okely’s vocals which are smooth yet powerful, like a croon that reaches out to touch you. The vocals are supported by a mix of throwback 60s and 70s folk and blues with strong pop song-writing. Everything is kept in harmony, never letting one element over power another.[...]

Amber Arcades – Cannonball EP

May 29, 2017

Two days may not seem like a lot of time to cut an EP, but Dutch artist Amber Arcades (aka Annelotte de Graaf) finished the Cannonball EP during her time off in New York from touring supporting Nada Surf. The EP follows the release of de Graaf’s debut album Fading Lines last year, which featured members of Real Estate, Quilt, and The Men. Nick Drake’s “Which Will” gets a new twist from de Graaf, trading Drake’s acoustics for an electric punch through the guitars. While it is a different interpretation sonically, the cover still pays homage to the message of the song, carrying a strong feeling of somberness as de Graaf’s vocals light the way through the hazy Krautrock instrumentals. On the third track “Wouldn’t Even Know,” Bill Ryder-Jones adds depth to the track with his somber crooning, which pairs well with the contrast of de Graaf’s lighter voice. The[...]

No, seriously by Hate Club

Hate Club – No, seriously

May 25, 2017

Hate Club is an Albany based band that exhibits all of the raucous and raw energy you’d want to find in an indie pop/slacker group. On April 19, Hate Club released their debut EP titled, No, seriously. It’s a refreshing 4 track outing that packs a punch. The 4 piece, consisting of Audrey Goodemote on vocals/guitar, Noah Bondy on vocals/guitar, Alex Brooks on bass, and Ethan Sullivan filling out the drums, are a relatively new band, only coming together in January 2017. The band describes themselves as Tweemo, a nice sounding portmanteau (unlike most other ones) of twee and emo. Vocalists Goodemote and Bondy trade off vocal duties, striking a balanced approach with neither band member overshadowing the other. Their voices mixed together have a dreamy quality to them, like wisps of smoke from two separate sources weaving in and out of each other. This particular sound quality is aided[...]

The Otherme – Blacksheep

April 27, 2017

When The Otherme‘s (aka solo artist Aidan Licker) new album came floating into the buffaBLOG inbox, it brought us back to a simpler time… Namely, the mid to late aughts where emo acts were blossoming from basement show staples to full-blown rock stars. Blacksheep is a startling tonal shift for The Otherme, whose previous efforts have been more hip-hop flavored (think Asher Roth or Atmosphere). This time around, Licker has eschewed the beats and the raps for personal, heart-on-your-sleeve anthems about long-lost relationships, summers past, and existential novelists. Licker is armed with nothing more than a lone electric guitar and his voice, bringing to mind Drive Thru acts like Dave Melillo or even The Starting Line. Blacksheep‘s most poignant moment comes in the form of the title-track, a song about yearning for approval, despite an unshakable “black sheep” status. On one of the catchiest moments of the album, Licker proclaims, “I stopped living for the people[...]

The Jesus and Mary Chain – Damage and Joy

April 18, 2017

To look at the kinds of new and exciting music, both locally and nationally, that’s been emerging, one would have taken notice of the resurgence that post-punk of the late 70s and 80s has played. At the center of this has been The Jesus and Mary Chain. Fronted by brothers, Jim and William Reid, they released their first record, Psychocandy in 1985, but the band had been on hiatus since 1998/99, after their record Munki was released. However, The band have recently come back together and released a brand new record, titled, Damage and Joy, on March 24th. There’s always a certain trepidation when a band gets back together and releases a new album. The questions arise as to why; short on money, can they still play, what drives their creativity? One really interesting aspect of Damage and Joy is how it doesn’t sound dated, or more precisely, the way[...]

Conor Oberst – Salutations

April 7, 2017

Apparently, last year’s Ruminations was just an appetizer, as Conor Oberst is back with a new, fuller record (both in sound and length). The over-an-hour-long Salutations sees him shift from solo acoustic guitar/piano sparseness to rounded out, full band arrangements. The album includes reworked renditions of all ten tracks from Ruminations, in addition to seven brand new songs. There is a stark contrast to these songs compared to last year’s counterparts. Ruminations was stripped down and bare, and felt almost like a cry for help in its startling isolation. Instead, Salutations is amblin’ Americana rock, finding company with organs, strings, accordion and percussion, as well as additional voices. Songs like “Tachycardia,” “Next of Kin” and “Mamah Borthwick (A Sketch)” turn into swooning ballads, while “Till St. Dymphna Kicks Us Out,” “Barbary Coast (Later)” and “A Little Uncanny” become torch-bearing anthems. There are also the seven additional new songs, essentially another[...]

Morbs – s/t

March 24, 2017

Eric Ellman is a pretty busy guy in the current local scene. In the past six months he’s pumped out two Green Slime releases and now with the help of his cohorts Emily Churco, Mike Herman and Rona Eliyahu, Ellman has revealed the self-titled debut for Morbs. The 10 track debut which clocks in just under 20 minutes was recorded by Matt Chase and mixed and mastered by John Angelo. The self-titled debut from the Queen City garage-punk outfit comes out of left field. It’s hard to determine what stands out more, is it the stripped down pure adrenal gland capsule that is Ellman’s guitar? Or is it the vocals of Churco? Churco’s lips are fast moving even when they are stuck in traffic, like on the slower tracks “Co-Pilot” and “Made of Bones”. Even on these songs her vocals seem to still be moving at the speed of light. However,[...]

Hurray for the Riff Raff – The Navigator

March 17, 2017

For Americana singer-songwriter Alynda Lee Segarra, her career has been a ten-year cross-country journey. Now on her sixth studio album with her indie folk group Hurray for the Riff Raff, that journey has taken her to the upper tier of modern roots music. Titled The Navigator, it’s an album conceptually rooted in her own personal background and story, the product of Puerto Rican ancestry and a Bronx, New York upbringing. The new record sees an expanding of Segarra’s sound, beyond just the country-blues tinged folksiness of the band’s previous releases. Here, these songs’ arrangements burst with the flavors of New Orleans, southwestern and Latin American streets. The Navigator is a mostly autobiographical album, steeped in heritage and self-discovery. There is also a political flair, with lyrics condemning policies and societal notions that negatively effect historically disenfranchised groups of people. The album flows neatly through stylistic changes, a collage of sounds[...]

Slowshine – s/t

March 16, 2017

Based out of Albany, shoegaze rockers Slowshine offer up a slick blend of new-wave elements and somber vocals, all with just the right amount of shoegaze haze on their recent self-titled release. Put out independently by the band on March 7th, the band is made up of Noah Bondy and Cameron Castan, who trade off on guitar, bass and vocals, Connor Dixon on drums, with additional guitar work by Nicholas Worchol. To talk about modern shoegaze would not accurately describe the kind of sound that Slowshine are bringing to the table. Instead of being a wall of sound, that’s been fed through a few dozen different pedals and distorted, fuzzed, and hazed out to near indefinability, Slowshine are much closer to the early 90’s variant of the genre, like Ride’s Nowhere. The band has more in common with Slowdive than in just their name, for instance. There’s a dream-pop like[...]

Jesca Hoop – Memories Are Now

March 3, 2017

Less than a year after the release of her duets album with Sam Beam, Jesca Hoop is back with an album of her own. Memories Are Now is the singer-songwriter’s fourth overall solo studio album, and solo debut for Sub Pop records. The new release is arguably her most realized and finely produced collection of songs to date. The veteran is known for her experimentation across an array of genres, from folk to jazz, rock to pop, blues to electronic and beyond. On Memories Are Now, she weaves her familiar eclectic tapestry, with some added layers. Mantra-like passages draw influence from African rhythms, and ambient overtones round out these compositions. Overtop of it all floats Hoop’s signature mid range voice, ethereal and lilting. Lyrical, she is socially engaged, rooted in the Now, and offers a tinge of political awareness. Her sly, grungy electric guitar licks pair well with the biting[...]