Preview

Tonight: Et al.

April 16, 2014

Baltimore’s Et al. will be touring through Spiral Scratch today, bringing their new-wavey guitar-driven pop along with them. In case you missed the Queen City Lottery Showcase, two of the bands have “made it” and are acting as support tonight. Nail School, featuring members of Space Wolves, Merchants, and JOHNS, and NELJÄ (who suggest they might be your favorite of the night) will be playing, as well as Deutscher Girls, who will probably be in drag. The show starts at 6:00pm and will feature free cookies, free beer, and plenty of sick vinyls to flip through while you enjoy some live music. A mere $5 will get you this fantastic experience.  

Tonight: Julie Byrne

April 15, 2014

I would like to compare Julie Byrne’s music to that of a bird in flight. The chords swoop in from the clouds, barely audible to the ear. Then, the wings of the track flap, move closer, creating a delicate ripple as the sweet trill of her voice is heard. It’s like she’s constantly walking further away from you, murmuring to herself, quietly expressing what’s suppressed within her mind. The nightingale is originally a Buffalo native, recently making the move from Chicago to Seattle. 2014 brings us her latest work, Rooms With Walls And Windows, that begins with a spacious balance between strumming and plucking, her words barely coming through until a more distinct ruffle bubbles up. Not every song of hers is a tease. “Emeralds” and “Holiday” clearly define Byrne’s ability to create a captivating melody in classic singer/songwriter form. Lyrically, she poeticizes about fleeting moments that suits her singing style[...]

Tonight: The War on Drugs

April 13, 2014

To get to the point, The War on Drugs’ most recent record, Lost in the Dream, is one of the most universally likeable rock records to come out in awhile. It is an early contender for album of the year and will definitely make many top 10 lists barring some sort of truly miraculous run of records (which, by all means, is welcome to happen) between now and December. If you are like me and would only love Bruce Springsteen if he were a little more influenced by Neu!, then this record is a must listen. It is as precise and charging as it is dreamy and lyrical. If you ever wondered what would play if you were ever standing atop a train driving into the American West and looking towards your future, this is it. Don’t even try to act like you haven’t pictured this before. With that introduction, it[...]

Tonight: St. Vincent

April 12, 2014

There’s nothing quite like seeing an artist’s bold vision come to fruition as they carve out a space for themselves that feels comfortably unfamiliar, defying traditional genre classification, and most importantly, forcing us to think about music in a novel way. Through four albums as St. Vincent, singer/multi-instrumentalist  Annie Clark has consistently kept listeners guessing, crafting a vividly experimental sound that often juxtaposes celestial arrangements with jarring, manic guitar solos. A supremely talented  musician and visionary, Annie Clark has always had a “future is now” vibe about her, and on St. Vincent’s eponymous current album, she’s never been more daring. St. Vincent returns to Buffalo 2 years after her magnificent show at the Town Ballroom for a hotly anticipated and totally sold out show tonight at Babeville’s Asbury Hall. Doors are at 7 PM, with a mystery opener starting proceedings. See you there.

Tonight: Banquets and Placeholder

April 12, 2014

Tonight, Buffalo has a Black Numbers showcase to offer. Banquets will be coming through to visit (one of) our favorite local record stores alongside the equally emo, but ever-so-slightly grungier Placeholder. I’m positive I’m going to say the word “emo” several more times throughout this post, but hey, I’m not complaining. Its going to be a great show. Local support tonight comes from the dudes in Lancer (with a guest member from Brother Keep), as well as old-school emo support from Alleys (who have a similar connection to Buffalo emo-kingpins Figurehead). This one is an early one – $10 gets you into a show that ends by eight so you have time to party hard afterwards.

Tonight: Jimkata

April 12, 2014

If you’re ready to set the pace for the upcoming months, as the weather becomes a little kinder, the electro-rock grooves of Jimkata would be the right place to start. Even though the quartet is a staple within the jam circuit, with the release of their album Die Digital they set themselves aside from the aimless sea of extended improvisations. Jimkata is EDM without overkill, indie without drab, and rock without the drama. This March the group released a singles collection Feel In Light, that carries throughout a blissful chord and is best heard with the volume up high. Cosmic Dust Bunnies, hailing from Connecticut, will be opening the night with their series of high-energy ‘wavetronica’ flow. Details: 10 pieces of gold to get you in, 21+ ID to seal the deal. 9 p.m., Nietzche’s.

Tonight: Tired Iron

April 11, 2014

One of the blog’s favorite Medina based bands is throwing the towel in tonight. Tired Iron, which features Boiler 54 promoter Adam Wakefield on drums, has decided to call it a day, and as a curtain call, will be competing in tonight’s BOOM competition at Nietzsche’s. Tired Iron’s raucous post-punk single, “Rut,” caught our attention last year, and if you haven’t had the chance to catch the four piece, tonight could be your last chance. Other acts competing tonight are the Naturalists, Orius, and Child of Folly, and while we don’t want to go around throwing our hat in any band’s camp, it sure would be a nice story for Tired Iron to advance. No matter your band preference, BOOM, which as always is presented by Artvoice, kicks off tonight at 10pm with a $5 cover.

Tonight: PigPen Theatre Co.

April 10, 2014

The unfortunately named PigPen Theatre Co. is rolling through town tonight. After reading up on them through the group’s bandcamp page, it appears the band employs shadow puppets into its routine, which is, well, different. I suppose that is where the Theatre Co. part of the band name comes from. The music, though, reminds me more of acts like the Swell Season (good), despite the unavoidable comparisons to other acts like Mumford & Sons (bad). PigPen Theatre Co. will be playing tonight at Buffalo Iron Works, which is suddenly becoming quite diverse after hosting considerably non folk shows like the Misfits, Screaming Females, and Cloud Nothings over the last couple weeks. The show kicks off tonight at 8pm with a cover of $15.

Grabbed from Facebook: Pleasure Leftists. Their faces look like that all the time.

Tonight: Pleasure Leftists

April 9, 2014

If you caught last Friday’s Cloud Nothings show, then you also had the pleasure of catching opener Pleasure Leftists. If you didn’t, don’t sweat: they’re coming back. After a few dates supporting Cloud Nothings, they’ll be swinging back through Buffalo to grace the stage/basement of the Glitterbox. Pleasure Leftists, to my ears, sound a whole lot like Joy Division, even more live than on the record. But it’s hard not to sound unique with a vocalist like Halley Morris. Her voice is an enormous, powerful thing and she herself is a presence: up on stage opening up for Cloud Nothings, she sometimes seemed like she was 20 feet tall. I’m excited to catch the band up close and personal. The rest of the bill, all Buffalo locals, is just as exciting. You’ve got Aaron & the Burrs delivering some excellent instrumental surf-rock. You’ve got Hot Tip serving up some hard-hitting[...]

Tonight: Iron Chic

April 8, 2014

Iron Chic is a band with an amusing tongue in cheek modesty, describing themselves as a “decent” band that plays “acceptable” music. They also go by the self deprecating title of, Your Previous Least Favorite Band, giving the impression that they’re not even important enough to be your current least favorite band, with the majority of their albums collecting dust in the 50 cent bin of forgotten thrift stores and the corners of basements across the country. Except of course, that totally isn’t the case. Iron Chic tackles cartwheeling Long Island pop punk that should turn audiences into a motion blur, and their music couldn’t be more alive. They released their new album, The Constant One, back in November, and now their touring trek leads them to Broadway Joe’s. Speaking of new releases and pop punk, two local acts are also slinging out new LP’s tonight. Longstanding Buffalo act Failures’ Union will bring[...]

Know Your Opener: Cheap Girls

April 8, 2014

Lester Bangs once wrote, “nothing ever quite dies, it just comes back in a different form.” Now Mr. Bangs could have been talking about a slew of things, however most likely he was speaking of music. Cheap Girls fits right into the quote by the late rock critic. The Lansing, Michigan natives’ sound is reminiscent of late 80’s alternative rock, a time when bands like Husker Du, The Replacements, Uncle Tupelo, and REM ruled the college radio air waves. After seven years and three studio albums – Find me a Drink Home (2008), My Roaring 20’s (2009) and Giant Orange (2012, the first album to be produced by Against Me’s Laura Jane Grace) – people are finally taking notice of the band. Currently on tour with Brooklyn’s The Hold Steady, Cheap Girls are on the verge of dropping their fourth studio album, Famous Graves, due out May 14th. “The phrase started taking[...]

Tonight: The Hold Steady

April 8, 2014

One time I heard the Hold Steady described as “Bar Rock for literates,” and to this day, I think that’s the best description I’ve heard of them. Thoughtful lyrics spoken story-like to the tune of hard-driving indie music with classic rock leanings. I suppose that’s an oversimplification, but it’s apt. If you have never heard the Hold Steady, I suggest you check out any of their first four albums (although, in truth, I like Heaven is Whenever just as much as those other releases). The music pulsates and the lyrics have a certain kind of weight that songwriters often strive for, but fail to capture. Perhaps that’s what’s made them so popular over the years. Despite the departure of original member and musical genius Franz Nicolay, the band’s popularity has continued to grow in recent years and the Hold Steady now find themselves on the road supporting their recently released,[...]

Tonight: Screaming Females

April 6, 2014

There’s something ironic about having a band like New Jersey’s Screaming Females playing at Buffalo Iron Works. Something just doesn’t sit right with me. A band who has worked with the likes of Steve Albini playing at a venue that sells four dollar Pabst Blue Ribbons. Not that they have any say in a venue’s drink prices. It just doesn’t seem right is all. The Screaming Females scream Old Milwaukee and rot gut whiskey. They scream dirt, grime, and hepatitis. When you hear vocalist/ guitarist Marissa Paternoster belt out verses lines like, “I’m on a mission to smash the mirror/ Get myself off the scale,” you imagine it being in a dive bar in the deep swallows of the city. A place where you’d imagine to find an overdosed Iggy Pop, circa 1972, not in a bar in the cobblestone district with six dollar draft beers. I hope you made[...]

Tonight: Healing Mary Moser

April 5, 2014

When one goes to a U2 show you are invariably treated to a sermon (or two) from Bono about people of great importance, usually in far away lands, like Mandela or Aung San Suu Kyi. The last time U2 played Buffalo in 2005 the audience at the HSBC Arena however was treated to a loving and beautiful tribute from Bono to WNY’s own Bruce and Mary Moser. It was almost surreal, seeing and hearing the frontman for one of the biggest bands EVER paying heartfelt homage to local folks from our music community from the stage, but if anybody deserved it, it’s the Mosers. Their contributions to Buffalo’s music community is incalculable, and it’s safe to say that the burgeoning scene we’re enjoying today has been built on the foundations they’ve laid by folks following in their footsteps, which is why the benefit being held for Mary Moser tonight at[...]

Tonight: Queen City Music Lottery Showcase

April 5, 2014

Tonight’s the night! One of the most novel ideas to come out of Buffalo’s music scene is the Queen City Music Lottery. With an initial showing of 62 members and 15 bands, it has proven to be a force to be reckoned with. Some bands have fallen along the way, but here is the most updated order for tonight: 1. RAINBOW TRASH (Stage One) 2. PLOSIVE (Stage Two) 3. MOVE REAL FAST; STOP(Stage One) 4. BEAST COAST(Stage Two) 5. NAIL SCHOOL (Stage One) 6. WALRUS AVULSION & THE NARWHALS(Stage Two) 7. SQUIRT (Stage One) 8. SCAJAQUADA CREEPS (Stage Two) 9. NELJÄ (Stage One) 10. PONYTAIL JASS (Stage Two) The show starts at 6:00 and is only $5.  It’s at the Foundry.