Latest Posts

Every Time I Die – From Parts Unknown

Do I really need to introduce Every Time I Die? Maybe I should, because every person who listens to them winds up with a melted face. I’m not kidding, check any comment section on any reviews of any of their albums. Anyone who has ever been to their perpetually sold-out Christmas shows knows what ETID is all about: brutal, guitar smashing, oft-hilarious dudes playing ugly chords on Lisa Frank guitars. What isn’t amazing about that? All that aside, ETID is nothing short of legendary. Album number seven is called From Parts Unknown, and this time around, ETID have enlisted Converge guitarist Kurt Ballou as a producer. Let me tell you something. It shows. This is ETID’s heaviest stuff yet. Album opener “The Great Secret” was my personal favorite song, probably because it was like two minutes of getting punched in the face. I like to listen to music to relax and drown out the[...]

Tonight: Caddywhompus, Aircraft, and Zealot

Tonight will be a glorious night. A night full of experimental indie pop, psychedelica, and walls of sound. Caddywhompus will be blessing us Buffalonians with their presence after traveling all the way from New Orleans. I couldn’t describe their sound better myself: “With a daunting assortment of amplifiers and effects-pedal tweakery, the duo executes its incredibly loud and at times nearly overwhelming sets with an impeccable musicianship and live presence. Song structures alternate between sweet psychedelic indie ballads to the most intense, ear-splitting of noise-driven crescendos” Tonight’s support comes from the one and only Aircraft, known for their fine psychedelic-indie rock. Rounding out the pack will be one of buffaBLOG’s favorite younger bands, Zealot, and their fuzzed out lo-fi. The entrance fee to Dreamland (on Franklin) is only $5, and make sure you bring your own beer.

American Stories – Horse Beard

American Stories is an interesting band. Their new album Horse Beard is a mashup of genres, namely psychedelic, folk, punk, americana, and emo. The opening track, and perhaps Horse Beard‘s strongest, is “Programmed.” The song is reminiscent of something Beck would have written in the late 90s, or even blissful indie rock like Built to Spill. At times, it dips into something 60s influenced, but it maintains  the sort of loose slacker vibe you would expect from a musician like Beck, or the fuzzy warmth from a jangly BTS jam. “All The Same” takes these already strong sensibilities and wraps them in a shroud of the kind of emo you’d come to expect from Sunny Day Real Estate. I’m only two songs in but if you’re guessing you might find a pattern here, you’re right. American Stories are genre hoppers, and typically, it would make an album sound like it lacks direction. That[...]

I Can See Mountains Has Gone Beachy

I thought I had viewed the last moments of I Can See Mountains last year. It was a bittersweet show full of catchy riffs, half sung/half spoken vocals, and even a display of acrobatics when Matt Cox jumped onto the rafters of the Waiting Room and swung himself around (much to the chagrin of club security). Much to our delight, ICSM isn’t quite out for the count. Cousins Matt Cox and Kevin Hoffman decided to continue on with the band and have just released a new EP called Gone Beachy. Recorded at Quiet Country Audio, the three song EP is full of the catchy wordplay and upbeat emo that made ICSM a fan favorite in the first place. “My Acquatic” sounds like a Hoffman/Cox fronted Cloud Nothings, bolstered by that huge beginning riff. Soon enough, “She’s My Bobby Orr Pt. II” brings us back to the ICSM we’re used to. “Bald”[...]

Seahaven – “Karma Consequential”

Seahaven have traded distortion for chilled-out guitars and effected drums on this ambient track from Reverie Lagoon: Music For Escapism Only. [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/140537809″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=false&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”450″ iframe=”true” /]

Stepfriends Premiere New Song From Forthcoming LP

Lucky day! We here at buffaBLOG have recently stumbled upon an exclusive track from the new Stepfriends LP, set to drop by early summer. Stepfriends, of course, is a collective of sorts, featuring all sorts of musicians from the WNY area, but mainly focuses around the duo of Johnny Lucas (from Buffalo but currently based in NJ) and Greg McClure (who you might recognize from Buffalo-based band Del Paxton). “I Know You” blends a subtle horn section, some beautiful vocal harmonies, and nimble guitar lines.  Check it out below. [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/146290766″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=false&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”450″ iframe=”true” /]

Nelson-Type – Cycles

Nelson-Type is just one of “those” bands. Ever since the duo released 2011’s excellent Grow Homeless, Grow Unbound, we buffaBLOGGERs have been waiting anxiously for their next release. It’s been three long years and, yes… we admit (at times), we believed the rumors that grad school and the comforts of a full-time job had claimed Nelson-Type for good. But for a couple of yes-men who took their name from a man whose trademark is a long, exaggerated “yeeeeeeesssss,” it was hard to imagine a batch of songs going unfinished. Luckily for us, Cycles came out this week. Six songs of pure, unadulterated Nelson-Type glory, ripe for the listening. “Games” kicks off this EP, making use of swirly guitars, high gentle tenor vocals, and about just as much reverb as anyone could stomach. With no accompaniment from any percussion, Nelson-Type opted instead to fill out this song with just a touch of[...]

Tonight: Et al.

Baltimore’s Et al. will be touring through Spiral Scratch today, bringing their new-wavey guitar-driven pop along with them. In case you missed the Queen City Lottery Showcase, two of the bands have “made it” and are acting as support tonight. Nail School, featuring members of Space Wolves, Merchants, and JOHNS, and NELJÄ (who suggest they might be your favorite of the night) will be playing, as well as Deutscher Girls, who will probably be in drag. The show starts at 6:00pm and will feature free cookies, free beer, and plenty of sick vinyls to flip through while you enjoy some live music. A mere $5 will get you this fantastic experience.  

Delplato & Kujawski – Strings & Chords

I am treated to the best of the best of local music from week to week. Over the past few years, I have had an opportunity to objectively review and appreciate a wide variety of music that comes my way. That being said, nothing ever seems to grip me like a release from Anthony Delplato. This time he has a partner, Brad Kujawski. Together, Delplato & Kujawski have put together Strings & Chords. I might have already had a biased opinion going into this review… but let’s just say Deplato & Kujawski didn’t let me down. “We Sail” starts off sounding like We Have The Facts And We’re Voting Yes-era Death Cab For Cutie. Two clean guitars with a slight warble play in sync through most of this song – I was actually expecting nothing more than a pretty instrumental opening track… Not that there would have been anything wrong with that[...]

Manchester Orchestra – “Top Notch (Acoustic)”

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/142901285″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=false&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”450″ iframe=”true” /] Manchester Orchestra offers a haunting acoustic take on the lead single from their new album, Cope.

Mapmaker – Critical Path

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[...]

Tonight: Queen City Music Lottery Showcase

Tonight’s the night! One of the most novel ideas to come out of Buffalo’s music scene is the Queen City Music Lottery. With an initial showing of 62 members and 15 bands, it has proven to be a force to be reckoned with. Some bands have fallen along the way, but here is the most updated order for tonight: 1. RAINBOW TRASH (Stage One) 2. PLOSIVE (Stage Two) 3. MOVE REAL FAST; STOP(Stage One) 4. BEAST COAST(Stage Two) 5. NAIL SCHOOL (Stage One) 6. WALRUS AVULSION & THE NARWHALS(Stage Two) 7. SQUIRT (Stage One) 8. SCAJAQUADA CREEPS (Stage Two) 9. NELJÄ (Stage One) 10. PONYTAIL JASS (Stage Two) The show starts at 6:00 and is only $5.  It’s at the Foundry.  

Tonight: Prawn

This isn’t the first time Top Shelf Records has sent one of their top-tier emo revivalist bands through Buffalo – tonight’s offering is Prawn, whose clean guitars and angsty vocals sound like Joan of Arc if they calmed down a little and tried to put a little structure to their songs. Tonight’s show is at The Lair and starts at 6:00pm. The support for tonight is incredible, featuring Buffalonian support from Del Paxton, Figurehead, and Alleys. Rochester is sending over Barbarossa. $10.

Humble Braggers Release New EP

Since being featured on one of our Album of the Week features last year, Humble Braggers have been quietly working on their live set. They’ve also been hard at work on some new material. The Say EP was released today and features three new songs that show that the Braggers have been working hard at honing their reverb-soaked indie rock. I’d like to call these songs “sharper” than their last release, but that wouldn’t be the right word… In fact, they specialize in swirly songs whose instruments seem to decay for days. The EP puts a spotlight on prominent bass, ambient guitars, and foggy synths. There is a distinct 80s vibe to some of these songs (most notably, the cover of Tears for Fears “Everybody Wants to Rule the World”), but on songs like “Hold On, We’re Going Home,” the Braggers nail it with catchy, contemporary guitar lines.  Have a listen below.

Tigers Jaw – “Nervous Kids”

Tigers Jaw gets laid-back and grungy on this charming new song from their upcoming album, Charmer. [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/134470863″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=false&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”450″ iframe=”true” /]