Latest Posts

Ryan Luce Finds “California Gold” On New Single

April 2, 2019

Buffalo ex-pat Ryan Luce has hit a vein of pure Americana goodness on his new single “California Gold” off his forthcoming album and you should get it in your ears pronto. Shuffling earnestly with just  a sweet whiff of melancholy, some killer slide guitar lines and intertwined harmonies that conjure sensations of 70’s country and Buckingham Nicks, “California Gold” is indeed AM radio gold; timeless and bittersweetly irresistible. “California Gold” is the title track of Luce’s forthcoming album that comes out April 26, with a homecoming  show scheduled for May 4th at The Tabernacle.

Velvet Bethany – Rock & Roll Vacation!

March 4, 2019

Feminism is punk rock. If you don’t think so, you don’t know punk. Punk rebels against the status quo and focuses angst and anger to inspire change for the better. And in 2019, women have plenty to be pissed off about. Enter Velvet Bethany and their brand new full-length, Rock & Roll Vacation!. The latest is the band’s fifth release and stuffed with ten catchy tracks of garage punk rock that’s an absolute blast from start to finish. What started as singer and guitarist Allison Mitchell’s solo project evolved over the past five years into a four-piece powerhouse with the additions of Vivian on lead guitar, Lux Arnold on bass and Mike D behind the kit. These four bring out the best in each other to create candy-coated, sweet ‘n’ sour punk rock with badass and irreverent feminist attitude. After a brief 8-bit musical masterpiece, the album opens with the[...]

Aircraft Drop Live Video For “Bad Things”

February 19, 2019

Beloved psychedelic rockers Aircraft have some new music on the way and our first taste has arrived with an atmospheric video for their new single “Bad Things.” Filmed live at Mammoth Recording Studio, “Bad Things” is more than a tad appropriately bleak, with some groovy underwater guitar sounds maybe a little bit reminiscent of “The Rain Song” and 90’s R.E.M. and hauntingly plaintive vocals from our man Justin John Smith that synch up rather nicely with the prevailing disquiet. You can check it out below, and definitely stay tuned for new Aircraft material incoming this year.

Feverbox Releases Video for Single “Dear Leader”

February 15, 2019

Buffalo’s Feverbox takes to the rooftops in the video for their dynamite indie rock protest anthem, “Dear Leader.” Hot off their 2018 EP, Political Theater, Feverbox pulls no punches in their catchy critique of our Commander-in-chief. Politically charged and defiant lyrics are delivered with fire by lead singer/guitarist Griffin Smith over a raucous and exploding rock beat. Watch the video for this presidential indie rock diss track below and give Political Theater a listen on Bandcamp here.

Green Slime – 2

February 11, 2019

Buffalo trio, Green Slime, are back and in full effect with their new speaker blowing and truly excellent 10-track stoner garage rock album, 2. Their sophomore full-length can best be described as the perfect combination of heaviness and melody. It’s the kind of songs Rivers Cuomo circa the Blue Album would have wrote had he snorted a mountain of coke and bit the head off a bat. The wonderfully raw and crunchy garage grooves from guitarist Eric Ellman and bassist Mike Euscher are so thick they practically ooze from their amps. The two shred at their heaviest and doomiest on “Survival,” a boisterous track that will possess you to throw up your lighter while headbanging deeply and lethargically along. Ellman also works double-duty as Green Slime’s lead singer with crooning vocals reminiscent of the ones you’d hear on a nostalgic 90’s alt-rock single. They’re an absolute blast to sing along[...]

Rocco Of The Snow Releases New Single “Big Riddle”

December 21, 2018

Buffalo expat Rocco Of The Snow aka Rocco DellaNeve is back literally and proverbially: proverbially in that he’s got a juicy new single out by the name of “Big Riddle,” and literally because he’s back home for the holidays with a cd release show tonight at the fairly brand new Imagine Event Center in Black Rock. First things first: “Big Riddle” is ideal for those of us prone to seasonal affective disorder, an unseasonably bright slice of electronic r&b perfect for our troubled times, gray, sunless winter days and cold nights in need of funky beats and soaring, fuzzed out synths that broadcast some joy and solace directly into your heart (it’s also a tonic for the soul for those of us who miss Forealists). You can see and hear what Rocco has been up to tonight when he plays a show celebrating his new cd release Prime Mover at the newish Imagine[...]

Night Slaves – III

December 3, 2018

Local dark electronica duo Night Slaves have returned with a killer live show and sophomore full length album in Night Slaves III that brims with soaring ambition, darkness, and evil, genre defying grooves that lift it above the noise. From start to finish musical polymath David Kane astonishes on III, bending so much to his will to create varied backdrops for his cohort John Toohill to summon some serious mojo, channeling Bowie, Nick Cave, 90’s Michael Stipe and Paul Banks to impressive effect, while the incredible guest vocals from Lucy Bell throughout kind of echo in your soul like ye old fairy magic… if that fairy magic wore boots and kicked ass. III crushes immediately with a bleak yet defiant drive through a post apocalyptic wasteland on “The Last Elephant” that grooves with menace and a Spectoresque wall of sound, layering haunting vocals among the droning guitars, loops, organ, etc to fill your ears.[...]

JC (AYAM) Cuts New DIY Video “N.I.P. TOO” Loose

November 28, 2018

Buffalo emcee, JC (AYAM), drops the video for his foreboding new head nodder, “N.I.P. TOO.” This ominously hypnotic cut traps you down in a shadowy dungeon tormented with executioner’s horns, drippy finger snaps and skittering hi-hats. (AYAM) lurks through this bumping and doomy beat with faded brag raps that echo down dark, cavernous passageways. It’s a mesmerizing record to chill to, especially when laid up in the torture rack, so fall under (AYAM)’s trance below. Look out for JC (AYAM)’s debut album next year and be sure to follow him on Twitter here.

Feverbox – Political Theater

November 19, 2018

In the interest of fairness I’ve got to preface this review by firmly making the point that I’m not shading anybody else or their art while talking about the bold as brass new EP Political Theater from the beautiful fellas of Feverbox. There’s a number of ways to process these… interesting times personally and through one’s art, and there’s more than a few local acts speaking to the tumult politically and existentially raging in these United States, and representing for what they believe in, and it’s valued and appreciated. But what Feverbox (Griffin Smith, Nico Kelly, Josh Little, Drew Lazelle) is doing on Political Theater is something else altogether because it’s one of the most urgently direct and plaintively honest responses to the Trump era yet. There’s just very little left to interpret when Feverbox kicks off an ep titled Political Theater (featuring our beloved President in photoshopped Queen of Hearts drag)[...]

Elemantra Releases Trippy Music Video for “Such Tiny Fish”

November 2, 2018

Salamanca quartet Elemantra channel the spirit of post-rock bands like Sense Field and Appleseed Cast and mix it with an alternative 90s sound that evokes Smashing Pumpkins and Sunny Day Real Estate. Their latest release is the full-length To Know Better, which features the single, “Such Tiny Fish.” In the seven-plus minute song, the group spans the gamut from riff-rock to subtle ambiance, accompanied by a soothing (and vaguely trippy) music video featuring a serene aquarium. Elemantra aims to please, and there is certainly something here for everyone – check out the music video below. Elemantra’s debut album, To Know Better, is available now on Bandcamp.

Tonight: Sugar City’s 10th Anniversary Party with Calvin Johnson

October 12, 2018

Sugar City, the city’s only remaining DIY arts and performance space is celebrating ten years of existence in both the material and immaterial worlds tonight with two parties, an excellent lineup featuring friend of Sugar City, indie rock hero Calvin Johnson, and you beautiful people. It’s been quite the adventure for Sugar City since it’s grassroots founding back in 2008, existing first in the hearts and minds of it’s early organizers and supporters, then in a magical physical space on Wadsworth at the base  of Allentown, where magical things happened… before being gentrified out and/or beset upon by unfriendly forces, depending on who you’re talking to. Then it was back to the whole hearts and minds thing as Sugar City regrouped, staging events around the city and keeping the flame alive until an unsolicited grant from Robert Rauschenberg’s foundation put enough wind in their sails to land another wonderful space on[...]

Hop Hop Delivers Video For “Scratch”

October 2, 2018

Premier Buffalo MC Hop Hop has a video for her latest single “Scratch” that’s a perfect showcase for her art and skills, and the city itself. Shot and edited by producer and co-conspirator Brandon Schlia, “Scratch” is an earworm in video form and a clever bit of DIY guerrilla filmmaking , utilizing a whole lot of the important new public art that’s sprung up over the last few years all over the city, our newly re-purposed post industrial decay, and various tasteful West Side doorways and rooftops as backdrops for the irrepressible brilliance of Hop Hop, who will most definitely not be defined by an old white guy like me anyways, so I won’t even try it (not that I’d try it anyway). From “The Freedom Wall” on Michigan and East Ferry to the Betsy Casanas mural on Niagara Street and the trusty Elmwood Avenue 24 Hour Store, “Scratch” is an inclusive,[...]

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[...]

Humble Braggers Drop Lush New Single, “Reckless”

June 22, 2018

Buffalo’s resident synth-poppers Humble Braggers are gearing up for the release of their fourth EP, Cycle, with a phat new single. “Reckless” is another banger from Tom Burtless & co., anchored by an instantly memorable chorus, electronic drum samples, and lush layers of synth. “Reckless” is a not-so-subtle reminder of the high-quality song crafting that this quartet is capable of (and is a real earworm to boot) – give it a listen via the widget below or stream it on Spotify. Cycle is slated for release via Admirable Traits on 8/31 with an accompanying release show. Until then, be sure to pick up “Reckless” through iTunes.