Latest Posts

Tonight: Science Man Tour Kick Off

April 19, 2019

Garage rock supervillain Science Man lays waste to Buffalo’s Mohawk Place tonight and lights the fuse for his destructive new tour with the help of local minions. Science Man, the solo project and alter ego of Buffalo multihyphenate John Toohill, has been busy in and outside his heinously deranged laboratory. After unleashing a bulldozing debut LP to stellar reviews last month, Science Man has been terrorizing venue stages with an all-out garage rock assault. If you’re into slimy riffs, hammering drums and rough-and-tumble vocals, this set is your perfect poison. Also taking part in tonight’s destruction are punk rockers, Facility Men. You don’t want to miss this gnarly four-piece rip it up with primal tracks that strike raw nerves like lightning. Expect howling vocals over catchy garage grooves and a whole lot of chaos during this anticipated performance. Opening cronies include garage punk rockers, Quitman, and mutant punkers, Nervous Tick[...]

Protomartyr at Mohawk Place (5/10/16)

May 13, 2016

After my introduction to Protomartyr last year at Pitchfork Festival, I was immediately hooked.  The dark, churning, yet insanely catchy style of post punk that the band boasted caught my ears, and after buying their commercial debut, Under the Color of Light, I had it on repeat for months.  The band also release a new record last year, titled The Agent Intellect, which was not only just as phenomenal, but the way the songs translated live was nothing short of fantastic.  While the band kept it quite serious on stage with minimal crowd interaction,  they were able to create a live sound that was damn near perfect. Check out some photos from the show below, featuring Buffalo act Facility Men, Philly post punks Psychic Teens, and Protomartyr.  Click HERE for for a full gallery. Facility Men Psychic Teens Protomartyr  

Protomaryr at Pitchfork Festival 2015 shot by Brendan O'Connor

Tonight: Protomartyr

May 10, 2016

Following Sunday’s stellar Sunflower Bean show, the Mohawk Place is once again the place to be tonight.  Detroit post punk act Protomartyr will be headlining a stacked bill, still on tour in support of their well received 2015 album, The Agent Intellect.   Also on the bill is be another dark post punk act, Psychic Teens, from Philidelphia, who have a brand new record, NERVE, to be released in three days. The local situation is no joke either,  with both Gun Candy and Facility Men will be playing opening sets.  Doors are set to open at 7pm, with a showtime of 8pm.  Tickets are only 12 bucks at the door.

Black Dots

June 20, 2015

Continuing with this weekend’s Herd Fest festivities, local record shop Black Dots will be hosting another rooftop show this evening.  The show will feature all local acts.  Kicking off the showcase will be fem punk outfit Boy Scouts, followed by fresh local act Alien Three, featuring members of Dream Journal and Failure’s Union.  Up next will be Black Dots imprint Facility Men, and the showcase will be closed out by the psychedelic beatdown hardcore act, Junk Drawer. As usual, the showcase is free if you have a Herd Fest bracelet, but if not it will be five dollars.  Black Dots is on the corner of Grant and Lafayette.  If weather does not permit the outdoor porch show, the gig will be held inside the store. If you can’t find your way up to the porch,  come down into the shop and someone will direct you. Black Dots is on the[...]

Tonight: Difficult Night

April 30, 2015

Difficult Night will headline Sugar City tonight with special guests Newish Star and Facility Men.  If you haven’t heard the slacker vibes of Difficult Night, tonight is probably the night to see them. The line up is tight, and Difficult Night is easy on the ear to most listeners.  To that effect, the night is an all ages event, so bring the kid’s and give them exposure to some of the music Buffalo has to offer. The members of Sugar City would like all guests to know that their venue is both drug and alcohol free.  Anyone feeling a little parched is more than welcome to wet their whistle at Resurgence Brewery across the street.  The night will kick off at 7pm, and with only 3 bands shouldn’t go too late into the night.  There is no mention of a charge, but bring a few bucks just to be on[...]

Facility Men Release Futility Men

January 15, 2015

Technically, much of Facility Men’s new cassette, Futility Men, has been available for months. So forgive me if you’ve heard this one before: Facility Men trace their lineage back to Plates, who called it quits a few years ago. They recorded most of these songs and released them earlier this year, which caught the attention of Black Dots. The result: a remixed, remastered and expanded cassette of garage punky bangers. Facility Men can chug along with the best of them, but the most exciting moments of the cassette come when the guitars start rising and screaming and everything feels like it might crash wildly, like the cresting of the wave. It’ll keep you on your toes. Check out Black Dots’ Bandcamp, where you can buy the digital album or snag the cassette. Check out a sample below.

Tonight: Facility Men

December 4, 2014

Facility Men are messy in the best kinda way. Loose and gravelly, discordant rock, with a rough-around-the-edges approach…probably one of the coolest current bands in the Buffalo crop. Plus Teo’s a madman live so you should probably check em out. They’re playing tonight at the Jungle Gym (9pm), with those fleshiest of Fleshy Mounds and Slotfillers. You know where the Jungle Gym is and if you don’t, well, don’t ask me. $5 as per the usual.

Facility Men Release New Four Song Collection, Futility Men

July 31, 2014

It really goes without saying that Buffalo’s punk / hardcore scene has been, and still is, one of the best around. From hardcore vets Snapcase and trailblazers Every Time I Die to the raw sounds of newer bands like Pentimento and The Traditional, B-town is home to some pretty talented acts. Maybe there’s something in the water. Local garage punks, Facility Men, a quartet including current and past members of White Whale and the Orphans, have just put out Futility Men, an energetic 4-song EP that fits in well with that Buffalo standard. The EP, recorded at Hi/Lo studios, sits somewhere between the old school punk vibe of Dead Boys and the discordant energy of The Vines. The songs all riff pretty hard and are surely capable of inducing some good whiplash at higher volumes. Check out the bass-driven hook of highlight “Strange Places” below, and head over the bandcamp[...]

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[...]