Preview

Tonight: Title Fight

October 23, 2015

For the second stop on their Fall 2015 headlining tour, Wilkes-Barre emo stalwarts Title Fight will be slinging their melodic post-hardcore bliss from the stage of the Studio at Waiting Room tonight. The band’s latest release, February’s Hyperview, takes on a guitar-driven, shoegaze-ish approach—something of a departure from the quartet’s hard-hitting pop-punk of yesteryear. Call it what you will (indie crossover, anyone?), Hyperview hits home in all the right places; expect to hear these tracks tonight. Joining Title Fight on their autumnal adventure is the infinitely eclectic songwriter Alex G, his latest effort Beach Music spanning genres like it’s nobody’s business. Much of it falls into an inimitably glassy vein of indie rock, like a transfixed Elliott Smith with cool kid riffs and spellbound vibes. Check out the new video for “Kicker” below and get there on time to catch this uniquely satiating act. Hometown heroes The Traditional will be[...]

Tonight: Black Milk

October 23, 2015

Detroit rapper/producer Black Milk has proven to be one of his city’s most formidable hip hop artists over the last decade or so. Heavily influenced by A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, and Motor City beat legend J Dilla, Black Milk brings his soulful beats and rhymes to Mohawk Place tonight with live band Nat Turner. Milk is a frequent collaborator with the city’s best, including songs with Slum Village, Royce Da 5’9,” Elzhi, and the 2011 project with Danny Brown titled The Black & Brown EP. Last year he dropped his sixth album, If There’s Hell Below, with notable indie hip hop label Fat Beats. Filled with more of Milk’s smooth jazz sounds, Hell Below includes features from Cali’s Blu and Houston legend Bun B. Milk’s tracklist should include many songs from the record, and all his tracks will be complimented by the energy of the live band.[...]

Tonight: Windhand

October 22, 2015

It’s gonna get heavy tonight at the Studio at the Waiting Room with Richmond-based psychedelic-metal act, Windhand, taking the stage. The band is on tour in support of their latest album, Grief’s Infernal Flower, produced by Jack Endino (Nirvana, High on Fire), which just came out on Relapse Records. Fans of Electric Wizard or Sleep would dig this rising sludge act. Also on the bill are Portland prog-metal act Danava and Swedish doom band Monolord, Doors are at 7pm with a $17 cover. [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/209888525″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”300″ iframe=”true” /]

Tonight: Friendship

October 21, 2015

If punk by way of Brooklyn or Japan isn’t your thing tonight, head down to Dreamland on this unusually busy Wednesday night for a set from Philadelphia’s Friendship. Friendship has a Weakerthans meets Bonnie Prince Billy with a touch of Magnetic Fields vibe and could easily be an alt-country counterpart to Buffalo slackers Difficult Night. The group’s new album You’re Going to Have to Trust Me was released this past weekend on New Hampshire label Burst & Bloom Records. You can give it a spine here. Joining Friendship will be fellow Philly, well, friend Abi Remold. The folk artist has a Sharon Van Etten thing going on and should be a fine compliment to Friendship’s laid back tawng. Buffalo’s own chamber pop six piece Parade Chic will open the show. Music begins this evening at 8pm with a $5 suggested donation to cover the touring acts.

Tonight: Pinky Doodle Poodle

October 21, 2015

Its Robby Takac’s Buffalo tonight at Mohawk Place. Pinky Doodle Poodle, all the way from Tokyo, is back to record a third album at Takac’s Good Charamel Records studio, and to make the most of their visit, will be hitting the stage at Mohawk later on. This band rocks like old school punk. Are they the Japanese Lemuria? When I saw Super Killer Robots at Music is Art my first impression of them was they were a typical hard rock band with one tall robot member. My first impression still stands. Lo-fi local punk band Boy Scouts will also open. Music begins at 8pm with a cover of $5.

Tonight: Shellshag

October 21, 2015

Tonight at Sugar City, Brooklyn lo-fi punk act Shellshag brings its tour to Buffalo for a visit. Also on the bill are local outfits Mallwalkers and Kharlos, and Rational Anthem all the way from Florida. It’s going to be a mixed bag of punk, for sure. Rational Anthem considers themselves pop-punk, while Don Giovanni Records’ Shellshag is more lo-fi garage punk. Kharlos and Mallwalkers also fall into that garage category, with Kharlos mixing some Thee Oh Sees vibes into their sound. The trio just released its debut cassette last month (check it out here), while Mallwalkers have begun studio work on the follow up to 2013’s Shake the Rust Off. All in all, four bands that will no doubt put on a killer show, and well worth the price, as Sugar City shows always are. The show starts at 6:30pm $6 will be due at the door.

Tonight: In The Valley Below

October 20, 2015

Buffalo will be greeted with the first solo show from popular LA pop act In the Valley Below this evening at the Tralf. The duo previously visited town for both Kerfuffle and UB’s Springfest, but are now back to the city that’s shown them so much love over the past year. The band is made up of the mid-western pair of Jeffrey Jacob Mendel and Angela Gail Mattson who met while playing in the Los Angeles to form In the Valley Below. You can hear the duo’s history in its music as their specific brand of pop music effortlessly blends the more twangy sounds of the group’s Americana and blues origins with the hazy synth-pop of the LA music scene. ITVB shot from relative obscurity to mass popularity seemingly overnight off the strength of the winningly romantic single, “Peaches.” The song’s breezy nature and subtle sensuality found the duo a plethora of new fans[...]

Tonight: Just Ending Now

October 19, 2015

Buffalo performance and visual artist Jeremy Jermaine Jerome has been consistently pushing genre boundaries throughout his creative career, blending abstract hip hop with electronica and gritty, industrial beats. The eccentric performer has previously brought his unique vision to venues like DNIPRO, Babeville, and Soundlab and will take the stage tonight at Kleinhans for A Grandeur Finale, his final show in Buffalo, to present his most recent project, Just Ending Now. This interactive concert will feature sections of spoken word, visual art, as well as both improvised and rehearsed music from JJJ. Also performing tonight is local ambient/electronic musician Art Lakewood, who will retire his namesake after the show to adopt a new, unnamed alias. Tonight’s show begins at 7pm. Tickets can be purchased for $25 here.   [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/214337077″ params=”color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]

Tonight: Tundrastomper

October 19, 2015

The freshly reopened West Side basement spot Curly’s will host a night of solid indie and punk tunes. The show boasts some great local acts, including the wildly unique drum duo CCDS, the new lady quintet known as Basement Rat, and the thinking man’s punk trio, Red Heat. The touring act is Ardsley, New York’s Tundrastomper, a band which cooks up just the right mix of surf rock, punk, and indie into something that is just plain fun. Things are set to take off right at 7pm with CCDS with a cover of only $5.

Tonight: Unearth

October 18, 2015

I’m going out on a limb and putting my metal credibility on the line here with this next statement. Unearth is the single greatest metalcore band that has ever existed. Follow me on this one. Devastating breakdowns. Check. Dual guitar attacks that will haunt your thoughts for days. Check. Blistering leads. Oh yea, they’re there. Pantera-Groove. Yup, those too. Metal tunes that STAND OUT that you actually REMEMBER. Well, yea. That perfect mix of hardcore attitude and raw thrash metal breakneck speed. You get the point. Now, some may hesitate to call Unearth “metalcore” and while that label seems to not be so popular these days, I think that’s a perfect summation of what Unearth does. These guys came from the hardcore scene, but loved metal when that was not so cool. They essentially forged a new sound and style in the late 90’s and did so whilst sounding fresh and[...]

Tonight: Sage Francis

October 17, 2015

Known for his confessional, wordy lyrics, rapper and spoken word poet Sage Francis has nearly twenty releases to his name since dropping his 2002 debut Personal Journals. As president and founder of Strange Famous Records, he’s put out a series of his own mixtapes along with maintaining a roster of underground hip hop talent. Having performed with similar artists like Atmosphere, Brother Ali, and Aesop Rock, Francis possesses an esoteric style that blends infectious production with thoughtful lyricism. Tonight, the MC will perform at the Studio at Waiting Room along with Buffalo rappers Frigid Giant, SonScotty, Tr38cho. Doors open at 7pm. Tickets are $15 and are available at the door or can be purchased here.

Tonight: Orenthal

October 17, 2015

Local punk act, Orenthal, is having a release party tonight at Mohawk Place, for their debut album, Rising. Aggressive punk rock prime for rushing the front and enthusiastically shouting along with the lyrics with finger-pointing exclamations. The band cleverly mixes hardcore punk influences with ska breakdowns, making the songs both fun and unpredictable. Fans of the Offspring’s Smash, NOFX, or Bad Religion should be psyched on it. Also on the bill is On The Cinder, BastardBastardBastard, as well as The Wagon by way of Akron, OH. Show starts early, like get there at 7pm seriously early. $5 cover. Pack some extra bills to pick up the Orenthal album.

Tonight: Superhuman Happiness

October 16, 2015

Luminescent NYC quartet Superhuman Happiness will be bringing their insanely pleasing brand of psych pop to Allentown’s Nietzsche’s later on tonight. Brimming with gorgeous boy-girl dual harmonies, warm and fuzzy melodies, and a mightily funky horn reminiscent of Antibalas, Superhuman Happiness are in town promoting their latest release Escape Velocity, and the vibe and good feelings will be potent and utterly irresistible. Opening the show will be blog favorite and Buffalo hip-hop troublemaker Jack Toft. According to the Bandsintown event page, doors open at 7pm, but this is Nietzsche’s so it’s probably closer to 9pm to 10pm, and the cover is unknown, so I’d keep $10 handy along with your dancing shoes…

Tonight: Short Moscato

October 16, 2015

Tonight over at the Gypsy Parlor, stop on down to celebrate the work of one of the Buffalo hip-hop scene’s finest members in Short Moscato. Whatever|Forever, the new album from the Good Huemans/Death Picnic MC, was just released a few weeks ago, and the record is nothing if not a testament to the city that built it. With it’s hard-edged rap and subtle melancholy, Whatever|Forever tells the story of a rapper, who like the Queen City, appears rough, but is thrillingly alive and brimming with originality. I’d also be remiss if I didn’t mention Wza’s production, which is almost reminiscent of the work of the late-great Nujabes. Short will be performing the album in full tonight and will be joined by some of the city’s most exciting upcoming artists, including MileHighMusik! and Billie E$$co. It goes without saying that tonight’s show will reflect the album it celebrates, which is to[...]

Tonight: Aircraft

October 16, 2015

Buffalo’s heady psych pop outfit Aircraft will return to Mohawk Place’s stage tonight as the group continues to tour in support of its latest record, the Admirable Traits released 7 Gems From the Sparkling Void. With a healthy dose of surf and space rock, the album continues to raise the ceiling of one of the city’s most cherished and promising acts. Those who have yet to catch the band live will be #blessed tonight with some fantastic harmonies and exhilarating musicianship. Joining Aircraft tonight will be rising Rust Belt post-rockers Tomoreaux and sardonic slackers Difficult Night, both of which are set to release a new album over the next couple months. Rounding out the bill will be the debut local performance from Albany’s dark shoegazers, Slowshine. Doors open at Mohawk Place this evening at 8pm with a cover of $5.