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Tonight: Delay

May 28, 2014

I quoted a guy named Jordan Nittoli on Monday and goddamnit, I’ll do it again, if only because this is actually the gig he was talking about: “Buffalo rools cuz there are a lot of gigs every week : ^ ).” Tonight, another installment of Punk ‘N Tots goes down over at Broadway Joe’s. Columbus’s Delay will be making their way over from Akron on the second stop of a two-month tour. Their latest release, Circle Change, is a nice self-contained power pop package, one which I’m sure will come across with great fuzz and fury live. Along with Delay, we’ve got Space Wolves, who have likely already stolen your heart in the past with their poppy surfy goodness. We’ve got Mapmaker, one of podcast host Mike Moretti’s favorite bands of the year, who will hopefully have some copies of their recent album Critical Path on hand to be exchanged[...]

Tonight: Iron Chic

April 8, 2014

Iron Chic is a band with an amusing tongue in cheek modesty, describing themselves as a “decent” band that plays “acceptable” music. They also go by the self deprecating title of, Your Previous Least Favorite Band, giving the impression that they’re not even important enough to be your current least favorite band, with the majority of their albums collecting dust in the 50 cent bin of forgotten thrift stores and the corners of basements across the country. Except of course, that totally isn’t the case. Iron Chic tackles cartwheeling Long Island pop punk that should turn audiences into a motion blur, and their music couldn’t be more alive. They released their new album, The Constant One, back in November, and now their touring trek leads them to Broadway Joe’s. Speaking of new releases and pop punk, two local acts are also slinging out new LP’s tonight. Longstanding Buffalo act Failures’ Union will bring[...]

Mapmaker – Critical Path

April 7, 2014

Mapmaker is probably one of the more underrated bands in Buffalo’s catalog. Their new release is called Critical Path and, while putting the finishing touches on this review on this fine Sunday evening, I realize what a real barnburner it is. The production is lo-fi, but not disarmingly so. It’s equal parts punk, emo, and indie rock. I’d like to compare them to The Gaslight Anthem but it’s not quite Americana enough… and I’d love to make a comparison to The Get Up Kids but it’s a little too punky to be flat-out emo. Maybe I’m allowed to call it “old school emo” like Sunny Day Real Estate or Mineral. Either way, they occupy a unique spectrum in that regard and I really enjoyed this particular Album of the Week for that reason. Critical Path kicks off with “Preoccupied,” an apt opener full of passionate yelps and fast guitars. That’s[...]