Latest Posts

Aircraft – 7 Gems From the Sparkling Void

August 31, 2015

Aircraft is the band you’d picture being propelled 200 years into the future and selling out venue after venue in Saturn’s ringside (presumably flourishing) psych-pop music scene. It’s spacey, surf-like indie rock that maintains a tastefully flashy appeal, but it’s stuff that all of us earthlings can cut loose to in a grungy basement or bar, also. The Buffalo quartet (comprised of Justin John Smith, Tyler Skelton, James Warren, and Matt Cosmann) released their long awaited sophomore album, 7 Gems From the Sparkling Void, through local label Admirable Trait Records this past weekend. It’s a neatly packaged seven song album that offers a clean sound with modish aftertastes. The album had a slower build for me, but I often discover that to be one of the greatest qualities an album can have. I found myself humming the first tune to myself by the time I got to the last and wanting to[...]

Tonight: Aircraft

August 29, 2015

While we have been geeking out all summer over the great music our sister city of Rochester has been putting out, Aircraft, one of the blog’s favorite Buffalo acts, has been busy at work on its latest release. Tonight at Sugar City, the soaring psych rock four piece is set to celebrate said release, a new EP titled 7 Gems from the Sparkling Void.  The EP will be released by Buffalo rooted label Admirable Traits records, which if you have been following, has quietly built a great catalog of local releases from Humble Braggers, M.A.G.S., Bryan Johnson & Family, and more. The party kicks off tonight at 7pm. Fuzzy Rochester shoegazers Pleistocene and fresh Buffalo rock saviors Sixties Future will provide support. $10 gets you through the door an a copy of the EP.

Tonight: The Tins

August 18, 2015

The Picnic in the Parkway free concert series at Bidwell Parkway is presenting a can’t miss concert later on tonight showcasing two of the local scenes most exciting bands, Aircraft and The Tins. Blog favorites Aircraft are getting ready to release their latest EP, the hotly anticipated and deliciously named 7 Gems From The Sparkling Void and embark on a tour of the Rust Belt and North East, while the adventurous electropop trio (and fellow blog favorites), The Tins, will be unleashing danceable synth driven jams from last year’s Young Blame EP and converting new members to their cause. Just think of all the unsuspecting Elmwood Village free concertgoers about to be turned on to two of Buffalo’s most exciting bands… what fun awaits. The show starts at 7pm.

Tonight: Gillian

July 11, 2015

In elementary school, I had this friend named Gillian (spelled the same way). She was a fearless girl careful coordinate every outfit, had every hair on her head neatly trimmed, was clear and concise, but was also totally unafraid to throw down on the monkey bars, make up  Britney Spears songs by herself at recess and live in an eccentric bubble of her own. All of this comes to mind because it seems to be an adaptive description for Gillian the band (hear me out on this one). The quintet has a sound that’s super cohesive and well thought out, but entirely daring at the same time. It’s a cool fusion between 70’s disco and 80’s power rock, all housed under an undeniably catchy umbrella of indie dance pop. The alternating male/female vocals add a fresh and sonically pleasing dimension to it all. The New York City band recently released[...]

Aircraft Releases Music Video for New Single “Dig A Little Deeper”

July 1, 2015

Aircraft has been paying its dues for quite some time now, especially after 2013’s debut LP Sonic Boom made some waves in the Buffalo scene and cemented the four-piece as both great songwriters and nuanced psych-poppers. Two years later, the group is about to release its follow up, an EP titled 7 Gems from the Sparkling Void. Yesterday saw the premiere of the EP’s first single, “Dig A Little Deeper,” via Pure Volume, and today, the track’s music video has debuted. The aptly-titled seven-song release is a perfect representation of Aircraft’s ethereal, occasionally surf-tinged space rock and is bound to propel the band to heights unknown. Local dynamo label Admirable Traits will be releasing 7 Gems from the Sparkling Void on August 28th, while the band’s release show is tentatively scheduled for August 29th with Rochester favs Pleistocene and new rock-saviors, Sixties Future. Watch the video for “Dig A Little Deeper” below. Video by Jeff Mace and[...]

Silo Sessions

June 19, 2015

Today is going to be a busy Saturday. If you’re looking to get the most out of your all-access Herd Fest bracelet, your itinerary will take you to Record Theatre in the afternoon, Black Dots in the evening, and the Buffalo bustle of Allen Street to cap off your fat schedule at a number of Allen’s finest watering holes. And if you tough it out and stay up and at ‘em for the final show of the night, you’ll find yourself at Nietzsche’s for the stacked, jacked and packed Silo Sessions showcase. Thanks to weekly videos of Silo Sessions—one of the local music scene’s newest and most unique upstarts—the cavernous natural reverb of Buffalo’s old grain silos has proven to be a valuable sonic entity in one of the city’s coolest new music spots. Since its inception last year, Silo Sessions has recorded over thirty musical performances in the Silos,[...]

Tonight: Landlady

April 22, 2015

Brooklyn’s Landlady will headline Mohawk Place tonight accompanied by Buffalo favorites Aircraft, Bryan Johnson & Family, and the JUST added Wax Mice. The New York natives are lead by Adam Schatz, the eccentric driving force behind the bands art-rock sound. The group is highly accredited, as its most recent album Upright Behavior was not only reviewed on Pitchfork, but received a positive rating of 7.4. Landlady has a unique sound, often including wind instruments, violin, and alike. Upright Behavior is the band’s first full length album, but its EP, Keeping to Yourself, might be the group’s strongest work, with distinction between songs, and in many ways a better understanding of themselves as artists. I’m not saying Upright Behavior sucks, I’m just pissed many have hailed it as the better work. Landlady’s “old stuff” has just as much to offer. Tonight is not just a night of music.  It is also a fundraiser for[...]

Tonight: Shana Falana

April 8, 2015

The Hive is set to host one of the most impressive bills of the month tonight in its tiny DIY attic. Headlining the bill is buzzing Kingston, NY-based duo, Shana Falana. The act is currently on a multi-month tour, supporting the April 7th release of Set Your Lightning Fire Free via Team Love Records (Tilly and the Wall, Roz and the Rice Cakes). If you are a fan of shoegaze with powerful female vocals, you should probably be at The Hive. Supporting Falana is Rochester lo-fi tag team, Buffalo Sex Change, indie-pop trio, The Tins, and a stripped down acoustic set from a hibernating Aircraft. $6 doors and it’s super early. Like 7pm early. If you don’t know where the Hive is, I would ask someone who does.

Tonight: Aircraft Welcomes The Future

December 31, 2014

Tonight the future will be now when blog favorites Aircraft, The Tins, Equality Knowledge & Light (Dr. Ooo, Sleep Close Death, Goodman Brown, Truey V, WZA, and Whoizzy), and Lesionread polish off 2014 and ring in 2015 at Nietzsche’s. This all star line up will be transforming that well worn and venerable Allentown venue into a psychedelic starship that’s going to take us all into the future and showcase some of the finest and forward thinking acts in Buffalo. $5 gets you in the door, champagne at midnight, plus some of the best hip hop, psych-pop and future pop in the city. Music starts at 9:30. See you there.

Day 6: Aircraft

December 19, 2014

Another leaked song from the forthcoming Steak and Cake Christmas Meltdown 2 compilation comes from Aircraft. The psych rock quartet submitted a cover of the Billy Hayes’ penned and Elvis popularized “Blue Christmas” to the record. Aircraft’s submission sounds like what Youth Lagoon may have done with the song: dreamy reverb over fragile vocals. Its a nice cover for sure, one that makes the song Aircraft’s own. Check it out below.

Tonight: Roz & the Rice Cakes

December 4, 2014

Tonight, the Hive plays host to Providence, RI’s instrument swapping, experimental pop trio, Roz & the Ricecakes. The three-some was recently featured in the debut installment of 1809 Studios new live session series recorded in Macedon, NY, right outside of Rochester. Check out the clip here. Masterminded by local label Steak & Cake Records, the bill also features a trio of blog favs, Newish Star, Mink, and Aircraft, all for the ridiculously low price of $5. Out of deference to the neighbors (to whom you should be cool if you’re going), the show starts at promptly 7pm.

Tonight: Filmstrip

October 15, 2014

Cleveland’s Filmstrip is an interesting band to listen to because they sound like guys who could explode into cathartic-but-too-obvious fuzz at any moment, but who choose not to. It’s reductive to call a band “mature” just because they aren’t ear-splittingly loud, so let’s just call them patient. Besides, “mature” indicates at best that they’ve totally figured themselves out, and at worst that they’re past their prime, and none of that is true. Their three most recent singles showcase the band tinkering with a few sounds: slower, melodic indie rock on “Stuck on Explode,” something like Neil Young & Crazy Horse on “Up on the Promenade,” and countrified punk a la The Men on “Waiting on a Train.” Hard to say where they’re headed, exactly, but I think the maturation is ongoing and that the best is yet to come. So check ’em out tonight at Nietzsche’s with local psychedelic doomsurfers[...]

Tonight: Electric Six

October 2, 2014

There’s a fine line to walk when making music as to whether or not you are going to be a parody band or to be taken serious. Electric Six is one of the few anomalies that are a legit rock’n roll band and are also fun, sarcastic, and legitimate. Tonight, one of our favorite goofball conglomerates will bring their cultural satire to newly minted Studio at the Waiting Room for undoubtedly one hell of a show.  If you don’t think you know who Electric Six is, you are wrong. You know the hits. Does “Danger! Danger! High Voltage!” ring a bell? Or perhaps you’ve seen that pre-viral Abraham Lincoln-fronted video for “Gay Bar?” See, you know them. Doors are at 7pm with a $15 cover. You should get there early because Aircraft are opening along with the Soft White Sixties, ya dig?

Tonight: The Elmwood Village 20 Block Bash

September 27, 2014

Tonight, celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the Elmwood Village Association at a big street party between West Utica and Hodge where it all began tastefully called The 20 Block Bash and featuring a raft of blog favorites handling the music for the festivities. It’s hard to believe that the Elmwood Village is only 20 years old because it feels like the EV’s been the EV forever, a testament to the concept’s durability and success as an organizing principle for the Elmwood Strip (that’s what we used to call it, back when it was overrun by delinquents and blue neon). That’s why tonight’s shindig is so worthy of note and a good time waiting to happen: it’s a celebration of Elmwood’s history and it’s future and a great opportunity to hang out with your fellow Buffalonians and enjoy the bounty of the city and the West Side in particular, namely local[...]

The Tins Album Release Show at Buffalo Iron Works (7/11/14)

July 12, 2014

The beer, poutine, and local bands were on point at Buffalo Iron Works this past Friday night. A ticket got you a free copy of the Tins’ new EP, Young Blame, in addition to a view of the baseball game’s fireworks from the back patio. Energetic frontman Matthew Lippman of Brimstone Blondes revealed upcoming LP release plans as the four-piece kicked the evening off. Guitar pedal eccentric duo Eric Kendall and Nick Gordon of the Actors played two sets in between openers, while Airctaft lead singer Justin John Smithhad not one, but three mics attached to his stand to optimize sound quality. As for the Tins’ performance, their hyper fans bopped along to the new songs all night long. Check out our gallery below of the entire evening. Written and Shot by Taryn Alper.