Latest Posts

Blobs Drop Demo Via More Power Tapes

July 22, 2015

Blobs probably has the best band name in punk right now. Born out of the Buffalo scene and two fourths comprised of the now defunct hardcore outfit Bad People, Blobs makes an impressive impact with its 7-track debut demo, recently released over on local tape label, More Power Tapes. The short and sweet demo is pure punk, highlighting Amelia Martin’s vocals. With members in many other bands (Newish Star, Aaron & the Burrs) in addition to this project, the varying influences come together to reach a broader audience, kind of like hardcore punk for fans of Space Wolves. Catch Blobs at Hoyt House on August 2nd and give the EP a listen below.

Hieronymus Bogs Releases First Single from The Angel

July 21, 2015

Man what is in the water in the Genesee River lately? We have been doing this blog for over five years now, and over last couple, expanding our focus past just Buffalo and into other areas of WNY. With that said, I have never seen such a run of quality new music than we have out of Rochester over these last few months (and more is on the way). One of those acts, which until now has sadly flown under our radar, is folk musician Alex Bogs, who performs under the moniker of Hieronymus Bogs. Yesterday, Bogs released the startling first single from his upcoming new album The Angel. “I Wonder” is a wonderfully haunting mix of Devandre Banhart freak folk, subtle touches of Antony and the Johnsons’ theatricality, and the vulnerability of Buffalo’s own Andy Pothier. The Angel should be a nice addition to what is shaping up to be[...]

Wilco – Star Wars

July 20, 2015

On “Cold Slope,” the 9th song off Wilco’s new album, Star Wars, Jeff Tweedy sings, “Some say you’re never really there, but you still take up space.” That line could be an indictment of the band over the past several years: touring endlessly but producing fewer albums. After a decade of hiring-and-firing, Tweedy and co. have been in cruise control with the same lineup for over 10 years now. What kind of band is Wilco today? They have mostly abandoned their experimental skin (which was really credited to Jay Bennett), and have since been approaching Springsteenian levels with their marathon live shows, pulling from a deep catalog. More and more, after 2009’s Wilco (The Album), which played out like a cheap greatest hits collection, and their last album, the uneven Whole Love, it seemed the band had reached their Grateful Dead moment: their studio albums don’t turn heads anymore, but[...]

Dadstache Releases House Majority EP

July 20, 2015

It’s easy to play off garage rock as “easy.” Just get a couple of guitars, some loud shitty amps, your friend the drummer, and a buddy’s basement, and boom, you have a band. However it’s not that easy — try and tell that to John Dwyer or Ty Segall. Today, we have a release from House Majority out of Rochester. You see, they’d probably also be offended if you told them that, as their a pretty killer garage rock EP was just released in the physical form via Dadstache Records. House Majority rings true to classic garage rock. All four songs are high energy pieces with no frills. Just straight rock ‘n’ roll, reminiscent of the Stooges. Garage rock is facing a mild revival in some circles with guys like Ty Segall and Parquet Courts seeing the light of day. With songs like “And I Say” (the fourth song off[...]

The Loner(s) – I Wish Shit Would Stop Spinning

July 20, 2015

To a certain degree, there is something voyeuristic about any deeply personal album that someone decides to put out in the open. But it’s the combination of James Keegan’s forthright lyricism and “bedroomy” sound quality that provokes something especially voyeuristic. I Wish Shit Would Stop Spinning is the recent full length release from The Loner(s), a one man band out of Rochester. You can put this album on and have it totally stitch itself into the background while simultaneously feeling like your ear is pressed to James’ wall, listening to him play muffled guitar and grapple with some form of despondency. There are little foot notes under all 10 songs on Bandcamp that detail what day each song was recorded and how the song was recorded — all have been recorded on a digital portastudio or 4-track cassette recorder. I don’t get the immediate sense that perfect sonic balance is[...]

ASLaaVeNaMeDot Releases “Sacrifices”

July 15, 2015

Buffalo rapper ASLaaVeNaMeDot, or A Slave Named Dot, is a grinder, and he’s trying to get his smooth flow and reflective bars some recognition. His latest track “Sacrifices” discusses that chase. The thoughtful construction of “Sacrifices” makes more that just a struggle-rap song. The hook “I guess I gotta die to get my shit played” can be interpreted as a double entendre referencing the hard work that goes into “making it,” along with the unfortunate phenomenon we see in music (and hip hop in particular) of romanticizing fallen artists. Recurring gunshot ad-libs create a sense of hype that pairs perfectly with the mellowness of the song’s primary horn sample. This is a pretty cool song, effortless where it could be forced, dynamic when it could get stale.  Peep the song below, and check out ASLaaVeNaMeDot’s Lets Play mixtape, released earlier this year.

Animal Sounds Releases New EP

July 15, 2015

Animal Sounds is an instrumental quartet out of Rochester. The foursome’s new EP, Fling Mingus, is a three-song, funk-tinged adventure through twinkly guitars and interesting rhythms. Since releasing a debut demo last summer, Animal Sounds seems to have ditched some of its funk background for an “indier” sound. Still, “Money Is A Mind Game” is a great example of AS’s genre-defying tunes, blending mathy, Minus the Bear-like emo with a tinge of classic rock like Blue Oyster Cult and a pinch of start/stop fury of a band like Buffalo’s A Hotel Nourishing. Check it out below.

The Ginger Faye Bakers Drop Latest LP Smoke Signals

July 14, 2015

Smoke Signals, the second album from Rochester power trio the Ginger Faye Bakers, is a sinful and ridiculously enjoyable slab of instant classic rock that’s ideal for late night reckless driving, going camping with a case of Genny Cream and [redacted], and cutting school to get wasted. It’s also a perfect example of the amazing music floating around the increasingly local-centric internet in the post music industry 21st Century. Driven by a death metal guitar sound that swings between the heaviest Queens of the Stone Age and the glorious Black Sabbath riffage of Tony Iommi, and wild vocals reminiscent of Black Mountain’s Stephen McBean, Smoke Signals is like so many releases from our neighbors on the 90 East — heavy on tunes and riffs, and irresistible. The Baker boys (Nathan, Timothy, and Billy) take it even further however, taking illicit joy in their pleasantly dangerous heavy duty abandon. There’s a[...]

Tame Impala – Currents

July 13, 2015

Thanks to a Facebook post from my friend Matt, it has come to my attention that “Tame Impala is the Instagram of rock bands.” This comes as a part of a multiple-hundreds of words rant from this album review of Currents. First of all, if you read it, Will Neibergall writes a solid review of the CD, and he makes a point that can be argued for or against. It’s short and to the point, and it sparked a good ol’ Facebook discussion that I’m sure my friend Matt’s going to be notified of for the next couple days. And it definitely has been getting it’s click throughs and complaints. However I’m here to deconstruct it. “Tame Impala is the Instagram of rock bands.” It irks me to hear this bouncing around in my head. There are tidbits of the review and Mr. Neibergall’s analogy that ring true: “Instagram used to[...]

Passion in Constellation Releases Summer Anthem in “Tropical Love”

July 13, 2015

Alright, I am going to make a bold prediction. Passion in Constellation will be in the top ten for our annual end of the year top twenty countdown for songs coming out of Buffalo in 2015. For buffaBLOG top twenty historians, Passion in Constellation made a blip on our countdown last year at number sixteen with his collaboration with relatively undiscovered singer Cara Doyle. The pair reunited to strike gold once again, releasing the dance track “Tropical Love” this past weekend and it’s been on a 24-hour loop at the blog headquarters. Passion in Constellation is the production moniker for Buffalo-based electro-pop producer Chris Alan. Throughout the past two years under the Passion in Constellation name, Alan has progressively improved (but he started out awesome with the single “Sunlight,” so there was a bit of a lead start), proving the producer has a real ear for what translates. With Passion in[...]

Soft Cough – Soft Cough

July 13, 2015

Geneseo’s Soft Cough has been hard at work. Their tunes may be slackish (deliciously so, I might add), but I wouldn’t jump to call them slackers. The garage-pop quartet takes a well-deserved pride in the flourishing Geneseo music scene that they support, and that support does not go unrequited. Over the past year the band has developed quite a following in the college town to which they call home base, following a barrage of house/living room/basement/campus/other shows, many of them self-organized. There is a commendable DIY ethic surrounding these guys, and it is that ethic that shines through and makes their fresh self-titled debut such a charming effort. Now, on to the music. Recorded by the band members themselves in the living room of Mute City (their house), and mixed by Ben Freiman (their drummer), the sound is naturally lo-fi in nature. And lo-fi is as lo-fi does. But let[...]

The Huckleberry Fins Return with New Single and Video

July 13, 2015

We got pretty hyped back at the end of 2013 when we came across the Rochester surf trio, The Huckleberry Fins. The group’s French Kiss flavored “Wild Blue Yonder” was like fire over at the blog office (ranking #10 on our favorite Rochester songs of the year), and we couldn’t wait to here what would come next from the threesome. After flying under the radar for what was quickly approaching two years, the band is back with a great new single and an accompanying music video for the track “The Sun is Setting.” The song could easily be included on a future Captured Tracks compilation as it brings to mind early Beach Fossils, while the video find the Huckleberry boys showing off some skate boarding moves through the streets and parking garages of Rochester. “The Sun is Setting” is the first single on the band’s upcoming 11-track LP, Pipe Dreams,[...]

Passive Aggressives Anonymous Releases New Single “Many at Once”

July 10, 2015

Tongue-in-cheek, Rochester crooner John Valenti and his band Passive Aggressives Anonymous have released a new single this morning, titled “Many at Once,” the follow up to the group’s late 2014 EP, Not so long songs of longing. If this is your first introduction to Valenti, think laid back Father John Misty showmanship meets Jens Lekman heart on his sleeve charm. Valenti and crew have the ability to romance you right off your feet, all while grinning ear to ear. PAA’s whimsical new song details the pros to keeping your options open when it comes to the opposite sex, all while striking riffs and fluttering strings back the dreamy, lounge ready number. In other Valenti news, the songwriter recently directed a clip for Kingston, NY musician Shana Falana. The video features appearances by fellow Roch musicans and Valenti buddies Buffalo Sex Change and just premiered yesterday on Paste. Check it out here.[...]

Pappy Stardust Drops All Around Sound‘s First Single

July 10, 2015

Buffalo psychedelic rocker Pappy Stardust (aka Steve Leszyk) has dropped a new single, titled “Ebb Rider (The Wave),” in advance of his upcoming full length release All Around Sound,  due September 5th. It’s a mind shredding face melter that should not be listened to while operating heavy machinery. Consider yourselves warned.

The Color Waves Drops Debut Singles

July 9, 2015

The Color Waves is cross Atlantic collaboration between fellows Scots Gary Hoggan (formerly of Butcher Boy) and Alison Eales. Hoggan moved to Buffalo a few years back, while Eales still calls Scotland home. Yesterday, the dreamy, jangle-pop pair released two tracks from its upcoming 7′ Chirology. Both songs, in particular the co-lead “Rose,” are darkly beautiful, and fans of Low, Belle & Sebastian, The Sleepy Jackson, and The Radio Dept should give the songs a spin. Keep an eye out soon for physical release of Chirology through Cloudberry Records (pre-orders are currently on sale here), and in the mean time, listen to the intimacy exploring title track below.