Latest Posts

Tonight: Krelboyne & Shit Blimp

February 22, 2015

End your weekend right: let four bands, two from Ohio, pummel you with sludgy punk. Shit Blimp and Krelboyne are coming to the Glitterbox, joined by locals Dream Journal and Red Heat. If you’re wondering what a Shit Blimp could possibly sound like, check the very first bass notes on the band’s demo: that’s exactly what a Shit Blimp sounds like. It’s not all heart-stopping low end, though: mostly it’s aggressive, fast, punch-your-face punk. Krelboyne can play in the same vein, but they’ve got a little bit more indie-rock groove in the tank. That vibe and its deceptive catchiness makes lines about “scrambling for answers in the bottom of a bottle,” spending your time on earth “eternally as a fumbling fucking imbecile” come across less like self-pity and more like relatable, uncontrollable internal rumination, which in turn makes it a whole lot easier to bob your head along to. Doors[...]

Tonight: Giant Peach

September 30, 2014

You guys like fuzz, right? Giant Peach is playing at the Glitterbox tonight, and I think you’d like them, too. Poppy, high energy stuff from Brooklyn. Check ’em out. They’ll be supported by locals Del Paxton, Space is Haunted and Grout. Good jams all around. Doors at 6:00, definitely be there by 7:00. $5 at the door. Facebook event here.

Staff Picks: Favorite Albums & Songs (so far) – Part 2

June 27, 2014

Today’s brings you round 2 of our staff picks for favorite songs and albums at 2014’s half way point. If you missed yesterday’s part 1 of submissions, you may read it here. Sarah Machajewski Album: Neil Young  – A Letter Home We should all be thanking Neil Young for putting out a new album. We should be thanking him doubly for making it an album of covers.  We should be thanking him three times as much for the album’s gritty phonographic sound that stands out in an age of digitized, computer-created music. But maybe that’s what Neil Young does best. His loner tendencies have led to some innovative, cutting-edge music. Yet this album doesn’t forge new paths, but revisits old ones. Young selected 12 songs that have meant something to him at some point in his career, taking from greats such as Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, Bruce Springsteen, and The Everly Brothers. They[...]

Routine Involvements, "Future Days"

Check Out Routine Involvements’ Future Days

April 21, 2014

We don’t always cover music out of Rochester, but when we do, it’s because it’s that good. And Routine Involvements new tape, Future Days, is some of the best stuff we’ve heard out of Buffalo’s neighbor to the Northeast in quite some time. RI take cues from all kinds of guitar-rock greats over the six songs on Future Days. Fan of Weezer? Television? Sunny Day Real Estate? Big Star? You’ll find something to like. The last track, “Strange Dynasty,” even gave me some Beatles vibes at points. That said, Future Days is definitely situated in the loud-quiet-loud dynamic that I guess society has decided to attribute to the Pixies. The noise never feels aimless, though, and beneath all the fuzz, RI is always moving forward to the next new idea. Check Future Days out on Bandcamp, and if it appeals to you, give the band some of your money. If you’re[...]

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[...]

Cloud Nothings at Buffalo Iron Works. Photo credit: Erica Morano of Buffalo.com.

Cloud Nothings at Buffalo Iron Works (4/4/14)

April 5, 2014

Last night’s Cloud Nothings show at the Buffalo Iron Works was a great experience. The bands played well, the crowd was into it, but it was the synergy between the two that pushed things over the top. I admit I was worried at the beginning. Openers Pleasure Leftists, who will be joining Cloud Nothings for a few dates before coming back through Buffalo next week for your listening pleasure, were awesome, but the crowd barely seemed to move. They clapped hard, but they seemed a little sleepy. Even when the headliners came on, I was concerned. The crowd only started to pick up a few songs into the set, when singer Dylan Baldi started strumming out the first few chords of “Stay Useless.” Lyrically, “Stay Useless” is all aching ennui, wishing for “Something to do/somewhere to go.” The crowd, at least the first few rows of it, seemed to know[...]

Failures’ Union – Tethering

March 31, 2014

When I mentioned to people that I’d be writing up the new Failures’ Union release, Tethering, I generally got one of two responses.  The first was that these guys were staples over at Mohawk Place. The association makes sense: that’s where the band got its start back in 2004. “We started out in a practice space above the bar, and that tiny room, along with the bar itself, were our homes for many years,” said Failures’ Union bassist Jason Draper.  With Mohawk gone, the band and the city are still feeling the hurt. Failures’ Union has only played four local dates since the venue closed its doors. Draper pointed out that some venues, like Spiral Scratch Records and the newly-resurrected Sugar City, have stepped up to the plate since, but that “it’s a band-aid to a problem that needs some stitches.” If the music scene is going to flourish once again, it needs a[...]

buffaBLOG 4th Birthday Party Artist Spotlight: Real People

March 27, 2014

Back in November, when Real People’s excellent Ceilings EP got the album of the week treatment, our own Nick Sessanna wrote that “Real People is a prime example of a band meant to be seen in basements.” By which he meant that they’re the kind of band you want to thrash around to, sweat and bleed on friends and strangers to: the kind of band that is not only there to be listened to, but experienced. He isn’t wrong. But I have confidence that, on Saturday, they’ll be able to bring the energy and grit of an all-out basement throwdown to Duke’s for buffaBLOG’s 4th birthday party. Real People has been around since 2008, but they’ve got a ton of momentum right now. Ceilings is a stellar example of emo done right: raw as all hell and void of cliches (not to mention that lead singer Landon Sworts has some fucking pipes). They released a session with Quiet Country Audio late[...]

Damian – You Don’t Need It

March 24, 2014

“Play ‘Soul Night‘!” There are maybe twenty or thirty people crammed into Damian Weber’s living room. The request came from a guy standing in the doorway, but all over the room, people begin to signal their approval. Up front, Damian Weber, bashfully charismatic, looks down at this guitar and sighs that he isn’t sure if he quite recalls how to play it. But the shouts continue, and Damian acquiesces, playing the song perfectly from start to finish. He remembers every word, and so do many of the people in his house. Camera phones come out to catch the key bits. “I can only dance if my rock ‘n roll is made by a weirdo,” he sings. Through the doorway behind him, I can see two people swing dancing through his dining room. “Soul Night” is the title track from Damian’s debut album. This article is about his new album, You Don’t[...]

Unwelcome Guests – Wavering

March 20, 2014

Scrolling back through our past posts on local favorites Unwelcome Guests, it’s hard not to notice a recurring theme: nobody is quite sure how to place them. On the surface, it seems like it shouldn’t be so hard. Guitars, bass, drums, vocals: this is the stuff of bands since Buddy Holly. But where one person hears the Buzzcocks, another hears the Gin Blossoms. Personally, the first thing I thought when I started listening to their new album, Wavering, was Jawbreaker, and even then, I’m not sure exactly why. Whatever the reason, Unwelcome Guests are the musical equivalent of that thing from Harry Potter that shows you whatever you want to see. This is a good thing. It makes Wavering one of those rare albums that could, potentially, please everybody, at least everybody into rock music (Luke Bryan fans, go home). It mostly sheds the occasional country vibe found on Unwelcome[...]