10. Harmonica Lewinski – “Rat Race” 

Rochester creepsters Harmonica Lewinski started off the year right with their beachy, 60s-era single “Rat Race,” which showcased the band’s punchbowl of surfy guitar riffs, jungle beats, and signature oddness. For a band that’s been around nearly fifteen years, Harmonica Lewinski still has got “it” and continues to impress us. – Matt Burgerhoff

9. Home Videos – “Underwater Breathing”

Over the summer, Rochester midwest-emos Home Videos delivered on their 12 song album Home Taping is Killing Music. Self-described as “slacker tapehead indie nonsense” the release had elements of both post and math rock, with comparisons to American Football, Explosions in the Sky, and early era Death Cab for Cutie. The standout of the album was the track “Underwater Breathing,” which brought us on second-wave emo journey and made us want to log back into LiveJournal. – Ron Walczyk

8. Luxury Suite – “Sparrows”

Luxury Suite is a 2025 project that popped up on our radar, combining members of two 2010s buffaBLOG favorites, Cottage Jefferson and Sports. Fronted by Ian Proper, the band released a two-song debut at the tail end of the year, however, “Sparrows” highlights the band’s promising future. The single channels Johnny Marr at his most melodic, with a sneer-y, boppy Elvis Costello swagger. – Mike Moretti

7. Boy Jr. – “Zitty Stardust”

Boy Jr. has been growing the project in many ways ever since breaking through on TikTok and other social media sites during COVID lockdowns with their impressive re-genrifying renditions of pop songs. The outlier of their 2025 releases is the triumphant “Zitty Stardust,” which is “a celebration of transformation and genderfluidity,” countering internet trolls and emerging triumphant and proud. Boy Jr. continues to be one of the most innovative and connected acts emerging out of Rochester.  Fans of Gwen Stefani and St. Vincent should take note. – Ron Walczyk

6. Bad Bloom – “Onion”

Fuzzy rockers Bad Bloom have been on our radar for years and are still consistently on the forefront of the Rochester shoegaze scene. 2025 saw the release of the band’s latest EP, pepper, which featured the official release of their track “onion.” The single was reminiscent of its namesake, with “dozens of tiers of guitars and basses layered thick with Smashing Pumpkins-esque intensity,” inviting comparisons to Pity Sex or Gleemer.  – Nick Sessanna

5. Milo – “Whatever”

Milo was a 2025 project that quickly caught out ears with their Rainer Maria and Lemuria comparisons. The band released two singles in the early spring which hit hard with our millennial preference for the college radio sounds of the early 00s. “Whatever” is a song about aging and indifference with a Jenny Lewis-esque delivery, framed by bratty indie nostalgia. – Nick Sessanna

4. Bug Day – “Cockroach Kid” 

“Cockroach Kid” was the clear highlight of Bug Day’s 2025 debut, Six-Legs Inexperience. The song starts out with an angular, riff-driven post-punk sound, conjuring the sound of early Preoccupations. The highlight of the track however is the intense climactic build-up that an Interpol fan would recognize and love. – Ron Walczyk

3. “Bugcatcher” – “How Long”

Bugcatcher has been tinkering away and mastering their sound since the early days of the pandemic, developing an existential slowcore indie-folk sound that we can’t help but love. The project is a collision of Midwest emo introspection and twangy alt-country sadness, all with a minimalistic approach. “How Long” encapsulated the sound with its stylistic comparisons to Pinegrove and Hovvdy, perfecting Bugcatcher’s “lush hush” sound. – Ron Walczyk

2. Jerry Big’s World Famous Band – “The Happening” 

Jerry Big’s World Famous Band impressed us immediately with their explosive garage rock stylings last May and stayed constantly in rotation throughout the rest of the year at the buffaBLOG HQ. The intensity of four song EP, JBWFB, was unmatched, with “The Happening” being the most overtly melodic track from the release. It will have you singing along and has an anthemic quality that we rarely hear. It expertly weaves hooks into an aggressive punk rock sound. – Ron Walczyk

(photo by Steven Coleman)

1. kitchen – “Real Estate Agent”

2026’s Blue Heeler in Ugly Snowlight, Grey on Gray on Gray on White by lo-fi bedroom project, kitchen, blew us away with track after track of earworms along with its cohesiveness on the 20 song mega-release. The eighth song on the release, “Real Estate Agent,” was undeniable, bursting forth as a twangy, emo-coded indie rock stunner that holds its own alongside established contemporaries like Pinegrove or Slaughter Beach, Dog. This is just a slice of the album, but it made us come back to it again and again and again. – Ron Walczyk

The post The Ten Best Songs from Rochester in 2025 first appeared on buffaBLOG.

There’s a clear evolution in the production this time around. While Denning has proved himself as a lo-fi artist on previous releases, Big Field steps away from some of the charmingly ragged edges and cleans up nicely. This isn’t really a betrayal of his earlier work; it’s a natural progression, something we’ve seen successfully pulled off by artists like Alex G and Mac DeMarco, where the warmer production is just a simple trajectory and plays nice with the early stuff. You still get that trademak Bugcatcher shimmer—this record is definitely the kind that will stay up all night with you—but the instrumentation feels wider and the sonic choices are deliberate.

The title track, “Big Field,” acts as the perfect anchor for this whole vibe. It takes its sweet time, layering scintillating guitar leads with those signature sighing steel slides, creating this soft, relaxed instrumental sprawl. Lyrically, Denning maps out the numbness of a particular space, perhaps one that’s romantic or figuratively purgatorial (or both): “tackle me into the dirt / I don’t mind ’cause it don’t hurt / kiss me, pretend that I am blind / I don’t mind, I don’t mind.” It nails that specific feeling of being stuck, but contentedly so.

The singles “Hurry” and “How Long” maintain the shimmering minimalism while offering slightly snappier paces. Then you get a track like “Crease,” which introduces a bit of grit, thanks in part to Ben Combs on drums, who lets the beat swell up in the chorus. It opens up the song and pulls it closer to relaxed alt-country territory—it’s easy to imagine this one fitting snugly on an album with alt-country contemporaries Wednesday.

The album throws in a couple outliers. On one hand, you have “Tornado Come to Town,” a quick two-and-a-half-minute slice of fingerpicked acoustic that brings some of that earliest lo-fi bedroom folk energy back, evoking the close-quarters storytelling of Sun Kil Moon. And on the complete opposite end, there’s “Wondering About,” the one track recorded live “to the floor” with the full band (Denning, Combs, John Carlo Pecheone, Alyssa Zaso, and Duvante Cora). This song rewards a little patience with this swelling intensity that gradually transforms the delicate beginning into a gritty explosion where the slowcore harness comes off, and then settles right back into a Bugcatcher comfort zone. It’s just a grand, beautifully executed bell curve.  

“Blue Moon Blues” serves as the closer, echoing that Sun Kil Moon influence again with a wonderfully textured acoustic presentation. It anchors the album’s city-averse outlook with lines like “New York City looks so pretty from far away / and that’s okay if you wanna stay” and the bluntly poetic “You know a place is just a place to leave.” Start to finish, Big Field is a major win for Bugcatcher and might just be a milestone moment for the slowcore outfit. The arrangements, songwriting, production–it all leans into itself and leaves you with an album that can effortlessly pluck you right out of your busy life for a while and suspend you in that trademark lush hush.

The post Bugcatcher – Big Field first appeared on buffaBLOG.

“Hurry” is available now on Raincoated Records. You can purchase via Bandcamp (below), or, on Spotify and Apple Music.

The post bugcatcher – “Hurry” first appeared on buffaBLOG.

If you’re into this one, well I have good news for you. Bugcatcher and Georgie are both in town for this Saturday’s (December 14, 2024) non-binary THEYFEST taking apalce at Area 54/Amy’s. Doors at 3pm with a flexible $10-$15 cover.

The post bugcatcher – “cadillac” first appeared on buffaBLOG.

On the intro song, “Roller,” the project’s lead vocalist, songwriter and main member, Jake Denning, questions changes in his life while a tender guitar riff fades in and out. Responding with indifference, Denning’s voice echoes back onto itself with the vacant phrase “well okay, well alright,” as the instrumentation kindles the project’s gentle, slacker rock sound.

Denning has multiple meanings for the title, as he feels there is “a malaise to the way the album flow[s], as it’s “generally pretty mid tempo,” yet he also said it took a long time for him to make, “maybe even too long.” He referred to its origins in late 2020, and how he moved around a couple times during its development.

A dreamlike short-story-tune, “Daisy Vs The Grim Reaper,” was one of the first completed. It starts glum with the line, “Well, I heard the Grim Reaper was calling my name but my dog barked at ‘em and she scared ‘em away.” Denning thanks the pup sweetly, singing “Good job Daisy, you’re braver than me,” while collaborator Sarah Spina chimes in on the situation as well. Warbling, “rubberband[-like]” synths nest inside the tune, while ambling guitar twangs paw ahead. As the song ends, we’re left thinking about healthy companionship with an angel of a dog, rather than the initial run-in with death’s messageman.

The singer’s glazy, soft spoken vocals are on full display in “Keeper.” Questioning his value, Denning’s soothing delivery flutters over a light mix of indie acoustics and plush synthetics.

“Dream” is a patient two-part piece. The first of which is sweet alt-country, or as Denning said, “y’allternative,” with an enfeebling message. In one of the project’s most personal moments, bugcatcher sings, “I could see you waking up next to me the day I die, that’s right,” before a floaty, sepia-filter string melody furthers the fall-to-pieces-at-any-moment mood. A sustained, yawning tone transitions the song to its second half, a panoramic ambient-folk piece. Listeners may see themselves in bugcatcher, as Denning has a personal moment while reveling in the world’s natural late-night beauties.

The subtle synth-folk follow up, “Kings Highway,” is a specific story passed down from Denning’s father. Two brothers embark on a winding nighttime drive through a hilly, forested road in Rochester without any streetlights.

“On Kings Highway, you turned beside me.
Said watch this, and turned the headlights off in total darkness
Thought I would surely die under that moonlight,
Swear you were doing like 95”

Although the story is not his own, Denning always thought it was a “beautiful little moment.”

Sewing the conclusive patchwork in Slacker’s quilt of short vignettes, “Little Patterns” puts a microscope over the little things that feel big in the moment. These difference-makers include: “a high school first day crush,” “a morning walk,” “a garden or a field,” and the adorable “snails that take their time.” Denning said, “That’s real, by the way,” describing a route of fifty-some snails migrating down the sidewalk one summer. “It’s one of the great, craziest phenomena I’ve ever witnessed in my life.” A honeyed riff floats around the quiet neighborhood scenery, while Denning longs for an innocent love without any hard goodbyes.

Progressing from the depressive, “Roller,” to the optimistic “Little Patterns,” Slacker’s alleviating tunes refresh the memories and the mind. Take a well-deserved breather from the hustle and bustle and slow down for a moment with Slacker.

Stream the project on Spotify, Apple Music, or the bandcamp player below.

Be on the lookout for another bugcatcher release set for the tail end of this summer, as well as an upcoming one from Free Casino, a post-punk, math rock band that Denning sings and plays guitar in as well.

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