Latest Posts

Tonight: And the Kids

July 9, 2019

Northamptonites And the Kids are coming to the 9th Ward at Babeville tonight. The genre-bending indie act is currently on tour to support the release of their third album, When This Life is Over, which came out this past February. While you could definitely call them a pop band, And the Kids has been known to break the rules a bit. When This Life is Over is a testament to their ability to complicate a genre so unfairly pinned down for its simplicity. With powerful, warbling vocals, layered harmonies, glimmering synth, and the occasional string section, And the Kids shine in the buildup on this album. The sound grows and grows until we’re dying to know what’s going to happen next – and we rarely expect what does. Whether it be an alternating tempo, a complete instrumentation change, or a beautifully crafted wall of sound, throughout each song and into[...]

Tonight: The Beths

July 7, 2019

Indie pop New Zealanders The Beths will take the stage at the 9th Wardtonight, bringing L.A.’s Girl Friday along with them. The group is right at the beginning of the North American leg of their gigantic summer tour, which supports the release of their 2018 debut album, Future Me Hates Me. The Beths formed in 2015 in Auckland, New Zealand, where vocalist/songwriter Elizabeth Stokes, guitarist Jonathan Pearce, and bassist Sinclair studied jazz at the University of Auckland. Drummer Tristan Deck, who amazingly also studied jazz, rounded out the group’s live line-up in 2019. Though the band departed from its constituents’ jazz backgrounds to take on a guitar-driven pop sound, musical education shows itself in the group’s impressively tight debut album. The Beths have worked up their own brand of indie pop for Future Hates Me, pairing playful, infectious melodies with punchy lyrics to deliver ten danceable, relatable, re-playable tracks. The[...]

Tonight: Tough Old Bird

June 28, 2019

The sun is starting to make more of a consistent presence as summer begins in Western New York, the time of year we start to remember just how beautiful the area we live in actually is. Blue skies and warmer temps make the perfect companions to good music, and folk locals Tough Old Bird will be bringing just that to Mohawk Place tonight to celebrate the release of their fifth album, The Old Great Lakes. Almost every piece of writing you’ll come across describing Tough Old Bird – a folk group started in Fillmore, NY by brothers Matthew and Nathan Corrigan in 2013 – mentions the word “landscape” at least once or twice. Tough Old Bird takes its surroundings and transforms them into beautifully crafted, traditionally modern folk music, using sophisticated acoustic guitar, harmonica, and hints of accordion and electric guitar to develop not only a dynamic, comforting shroud of[...]

Tonight: Car Seat Headrest

June 25, 2019

Seattle indie rock outfit Car Seat Headrest will stop by Asbury Hall tonight amid their Twin Fantasy 2019 tour with fellow Seattle rockers Naked Giants. The show comes to Buffalo on the back of 2018’s Twin Fantasy, a harrowing, dynamic album with a long and remarkable history of its own. Car Seat Headrest began in Leesburg, Virginia in 2010 as the bedroom solo project of a teenage Will Toledo, a major player in the modern, internet-based DIY scene. Toledo self-produced and self-released his first eight albums, using minimal equipment to record experimental, unrefined indie rock that would quickly gain an online cult following. The cult exploded with 2011’s Twin Fantasy – now titled Twin Fantasy (Mirror to Mirror) –, an ambitious and heartfelt concept album about a tumultuous first love, recorded with a laptop microphone, released for free on Bandcamp, and adored by thousands. Car Seat Headrest’s booming presence on[...]

Today: Death Cab for Cutie

June 16, 2019

Music is art, and it’ll be on full display tonight at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery. The beloved Death Cab for Cutie is venturing out from the Pacific Northwest to grace the Elmwood Avenue gallery’s grounds in this year’s installment of the long-running Rockin’ at the Knox, which will also feature Tank and the Bangas and Phosphorescent. Considered one of the definitive indie acts of the aughts, Death Cab has gained and maintains a massive following over the 22 years since it started in Bellingham, Washington as frontman Ben Gibbard’s solo project in 1997. The group is well known for its sincere, often melancholy songwriting and catchy melodies, as displayed on the critically acclaimed Transatlanticism (2003) and We Have the Facts and We’re Voting Yes (2000). They’re currently on tour to support their latest album, Thank You for Today, which was released in August 2018. The show is happening rain or[...]

The Tins Drop Latest Single “City Lies II”

May 28, 2019

Buffalo indie darlings The Tins have returned with another new single, “City Lies II.” A follow-up to “City Lies” off the eponymous 2017 EP, the track is an excellent example of the Tins’ knack for mastering different sounds. “City Lies II” begins with a bare-bones guitar riff, begging the listener to wonder what could be around the corner. Soon enough, a drum beat and cymbal crash interrupt this wonderment as we enter the mind of lead singer Mike Santillo. Santillo’s vocals are exceedingly haunting in this particular track, mingling with developing guitar, ghostly harmonies, and sparkling synth to express the thoughts of disillusionment, stagnation, and mental entanglement that come with extended city life – not unlike the themes explored on previous singles from The Tins. What’s perhaps most compelling about this single is something the group gets right over and over again: the artful combination of energy and heart. You won’t[...]