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Handsome Jack Premieres First Single from Do What Comes Naturally

September 5, 2014

A slow week here in Buffalo finally got better today as some new music came to our attention. Long time Buffalo blues rockers, Handsome Jack, have released the first single off of their forthcoming album, Do What Comes Naturally. Titled “Echoes,” the track is a heavy, road house slow burner, touching on influences from the Rolling Stones to the Black Keys, and is best served in a dark bar with a shot of whiskey or two. Do What Comes Naturally is currently available for pre-sale on iTunes and will be officially released on October 7th via Alive Naturalsound Records. In the mean time, listen to “Echoes” below.

Cottage Jefferson – B-Side

September 1, 2014

So, all good things must come to an end. Damn you, Chaucer—right again. Cottage Jefferson, Rochester’s favorite fuzz band, played what they announced to have been their final show back in May. Thankfully, that hasn’t stopped the quartet from tying up loose ends and putting out one last hurrah of an album. Titled B-Side, the exceptionally nostalgic 10-track album is a warm embrace, a phantom limb, a fist in the air. The songs have a good range of feeling and style without sounding scattered, sitting contentedly between the twinkly mood-jams of Built to Spill and the lethargic thickness of Dinosaur Jr. The record opens with “One Verse, No Chorus,” a gleeful three-chord jam with noodle guitar breakdowns, crunchy chords, and (despite what the title describes) what I consider to be a very catchy chorus. The song has a very casual feel to it and no shortage of hooks. For most,[...]

The Weeknd – “King of the Fall

August 29, 2014

Weeknd season is here! The often-mysterious new age crooner is back with another X-rated RnB jam, now complete with a truly Weeknd-esque video. Abel walks without emotion through the streets of Toronto, likely in pursuit of the drugged out models that are featured in nearly every video of his. Being that it’s his second new video in a week, the Weeknd seems to be scheming towards some kind of release before the year concludes. He made waves with his hilariously vulgar feature on Ty Dolla’s “Or Nah,” and right now his relevancy may be even higher than when he dropped his solid, but disappointing studio album Kiss Land around this time last year. “King of the Fall” hopefully hints that the Weeknd will own the season’s sound waves in a manner that he did in 2011, back when his whole aura was still a mystery. That’s one of the things that’s interesting[...]

Applennium Releases “Old Maples”

August 29, 2014

So we may have let one slip under our radar. Earlier this year, local mood rockers Applennium stealthily dropped a new track on their Soundcloud page—a grooving song sounding like something off of Bombay Bicycle Club’s latest. The danceable track, titled “Old Maples,” is a bit of a stylistic departure for the band, leaving behind the dreamy folk twang of earlier material to capitalize on a peppy house-beat with a fat, juicy bassline. A rhythmically-played palm-muted riff and distant jangle-chords add a pleasing airy element to the track while the band’s chillingly good male/female harmonies round out the haunting number. Never a dull moment from this band—earlier this year they played a mind-blowingly good set for the Harvest Sum showcase of Herdfest, and wound up contributing a song to the label’s 2014 summer compilation, available here. Better six months late than never, enjoy Applennium’s “Old Maples” below. (You know, if[...]

Maurice – “Wxcked Girls”

August 27, 2014

RnB’s newest face comes from Ottawa, Canada. Emerging onto the music scene with a popular YouTube channel of covers, Maurice has the talent to be considered contemporaries with the likes of Frank Ocean, James Fauntleroy, and the rest of the biggest names in the genre. “Wxcked Girls” is one of three new tracks released by the 17 year old in conjunction with a feature on Noisey. On the track, Maurice alternates between pure singing and a hybrid rap with veteran skill, evidence of the artist’s original dream of becoming a rapper. It’s also revealed in the article that Maurice is a high school football player that fits his basement-studio recordings in between practice, school, and homework.  Without the music even being Maurices’s sole venture, the product is already there. Take this as an introduction to a young artist already ahead of the curve.

midnight Releases Followup Single

August 26, 2014

Rochester R&B crooner, midnight,  is back with his followup single to last spring’s slow jam of the season, “Adonis.” His latest single, “1v1,” sticks to the same format, sensual falsetto vocals over downtempo electronic backing. Although the song title sounds like it’s about a basketball game, I’m pretty sure it’s about banging. Fans of Kanye’s A Twisted Dark Fantasy, D’Angelo, and How to Dress Well would be the pretty hip to have this on their playlist. [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/164874486″ params=”color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]

Supergoner Post New Material

August 26, 2014

Buffalo quartet, Supergoner, posted late last week their new song”Glass Cannon.” The single is a 90’s flavored indie rock gem that encapsulates the vibe and feel of the era. Fans of Cloud Nothings, Dinosaur Jr., and Superchunk would dig this sound. Half of the members of Supergoner are formerly of defunct rock band, Concubine, so that’s why the vocals sound semi-familiar. Check out “Glass Cannon” below. [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/164059325″ params=”color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]

Brimstone Blondes – AGE OF CONSENT

August 25, 2014

Almost every song on Brimstone Blondes’ new album, AGE OF CONSENT, is a take down of some sort. The targets change and their crimes run the gamut from exploitation to allegations of rape, but lead singer Matthew Danger Lippman feels pretty much the same as he’s pointing his finger: a little superior, a little fascinated, a little impotent and a little weird. He separates the world into the exploiters and the exploited and stands, alienated, on the outside, passing judgment. Consider the opening track, “The Photographer,” an indictment of creepo photographer Terry Richardson, who has been accused of sexually harassing and exploiting his female subjects (or maybe an indictment of a younger imitator, given that the age mentioned in the song is 12 years off). Lippman is disgusted by Richardson the “ironic pornographer,” but he’s also seemingly fascinated by the fact that he has “all the girls” right up his sleeve. Despite the sex[...]

moverealfastSTOP Release Final Single

August 25, 2014

moverealfastSTOP announced that they would no longer be going forward with the musical project, which was born out of Queen City Music Lottery that took place last spring. As a parting gift, the band released their final single, “The Words Song.” The song is a mix of Lesionread’s delicate vocals, playful bass, purrs, and Cross Stitch’s Joleen Bolger’s accented yelps, and tempo-changes. moverealfastSTOP was one of more promising Lotto bands, and with the announcement of the absolution of the project, this puts added pressure on Scajaquada Creeps, who seem to be the last remaining active project from the lottery.

Cottage Jefferson Prep Final Album, Release “Trapper Keeper” Single

August 21, 2014

Rochester’s Cottage Jefferson appeared to call it quits earlier this past May  with an advertised final show  at the Bug Jar. One day after the group played their final show, they posted that they had enough material to produce one last album to be released later in 2014. Cottage Jefferson’s final album, titled B-Side, had its first single premiere this morning via CJ’s bandcamp page. “Trapper Keeper” continues the foursome’s crunchy, college rock tendencies, and should please fans of Yuck and minimalistic Dinosaur Jr.. You probably won’t be seeing Cottage Jefferson touring in support of the album. Members are scattered all over the state now, playing in different projects such as blog favorites Routine Involvements, Pleistocene, and Faux Leather Jacket. Look out for the full length when its released in full on September 4th. In the meantime, here’s “Trapper Keeper.”

Gay Angel Releases Under The Radar Album, Places I’ll Eat, People I’ll Meet

August 21, 2014

One of the more interesting releases to grace our mail box this month has to be from Rochester’s Gay Angel. The moniker of singer/composer Jake Bellissimo, the musician recently released his latest album, Places I’ll Eat, People I’ll Meet, in late July. My first thoughts when listening to this album were that it is busy as hell. Look at the liner notes on the bandcamp page. Aside from Bellissimo, nearly 25 musicians contributed vocals, horns, strings, and more to the nine track album, which, according to Bellissimo, is “a collection of stories, people, sex, food, and music collected over the past 3 years.” Here is the thing though. While some artists compensate lackluster song writing with busier complex sounds, Gay Angel is one of the few that can combine swamped audio with quality. Its wild and all over the place at times, but I never once listened to the album and[...]

PG: A Female Rapper with a Golden Era Steez

August 20, 2014

The Roc is in the building! Rochester’s own PG is a female emcee with a dope flow and a knack for storytelling. On “Brooklyn Girl,” the femcee narrates an encounter with a fly chick on the train tracks of NYC. It’s an old school-styled song that’s refreshingly focused on songwriting, that which PG s already very good at. We’ve all been there, wanting to talk to that cute person, waiting for that moment to actually speak while your nerves build. The song touches on that feeling we’re all familiar with. As PG actually tracks down the BK girl, the song doesn’t lose any of it’s honesty and relatability. Check it out, it’s a great introduction to a promising new femcee.

Harmonica Lewinski Releases First Single From Upcoming EP

August 20, 2014

We have been doing parties for the blog for nearly four years now, and I feel it’s safe to say that the set from Harmonica Lewinski at our fourth birthday party last March was my favorite yet. Making their debut Buffalo show, the band almost didn’t make it due to some out-of-nowhere snow that had them stuck on the I-90 for much of the early evening. Luckily for those in attendance, Harmonica showed up and delivered a tight, retro-tinged performance that lured everyone to a very crowded Duke’s dance floor. You can watch a clip from that performance right here. The band has been teasing some new material and subsequent tour all summer long, and early this morning, the wild Rochester surf punk crew released the first single from their forthcoming 7″ EP, Naked Brunch (9/11). Titled “Har Har Bizarre,” the song is a retro-synth based carnival-like track that maintains an eerie vibe[...]

HUNS

August 20, 2014

Editor’s Note: Fresh Meat will be a periodical, in-depth look at some of the area’s freshest bands. For the first installment of the series, we focus on the instrumental trio, HUNS. For HUNS, it’s all about the improv, and no, I’m not talking about the comedy club. Improvisational music is usually something that you correlate to jazz, even though there have been a few bands who have thrived on it, such as Fugazi, Mogwai, Kyuss, and Clutch. “We record everything we do right here,” drummer John Neiss says, pointing to a shelf of stacked recording equipment. The shelf is nestled into the corner of Huns’ tiny rehearsal space in downtown Buffalo. “We go back and listen to it,” adds guitarist Brandon Schmidt. According to Schmidt, the biggest obstacle is keeping Neiss engaged. “He is very punctual when it comes to time.” “I can’t stand 4/4,” Neiss chiming in. An interjecting Schmidt[...]

Taylor Swift – “Shake It Off”

August 19, 2014

The popular image of pathetic-failure-chic is tired as hell. See: He’s Just Not That Into You, Girl Most Likely, and other movies in which potentially capable women get sucked into very cute, very milquetoast humiliations and histrionics. Taylor Swift can often be the aural embodiment of perpetuating those stereotypes. Girls! It’s Victimhood lite! Now in adorable and sassy flavors. The Bechdel Test is just based on a little conversation between two characters in a 1985 comic strip, Dykes to Watch Out For by Allison Bechdel. It is usually applied to film, but it works for other media. All the film/album/novel/what-have-you needs is a) at least two women who b) have conversations c) about something other than a man. The heteronormativity and the perfect image of a relationship, the super sublime womanhood and manhood we’re supposed to aspire to, really does run so deep that the art which rewards this complex[...]