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Knife the Symphony

Tonight: Knife the Symphony

February 20, 2015

Hang tight Buffalo; we’re slowly but surely rounding this hellish corner of freezing temps and heading toward springtime and sanity. If you’re feeling a little cabin feverish lately, consider expending some energy (or pent-up aggression) with some heavy jams. Catch Cincinnati-born band, Knife the Symphony, at Ocean Garden Oriental Foods tonight. These guys deliver discordant post-hardcore reminiscent of 90’s bands like Unwound and Jawbox, through a rhythmically driven punk filter. It’s dense and intense in all the right ways. Opening the show are locals Softlines, Alien Three, and Blobs. Doors are at 7pm, music starts at 8pm, admission is $5. You can check out the Facebook event here.

Tonight: Busman’s Holiday

February 16, 2015

What better way to escape the subzeroes than to warm up with Busman’s Holiday? The brotherly duo of Bloomington, Indiana craft wonderfully charming chamber pop ballads, and will bring that craft to Buffalo tonight. The show takes place at Ocean Garden Oriental Foods, next to Sugar City and across from Resurgence Brewing Co, for those of you who have yet to have the pleasure of seeing a good ol’ rock show there before. Local support on the bill includes a solo performance from Nick Gordon of JOHNS; his solo stuff channeling a slacker-y Lou Reed vibe, and CCDS (Death Squad), a drum duo (yes, drum duo) that is best witnessed with your own eyes and ears. Doors open at 7pm with a $6 cover

Tonight: Cruelster

December 28, 2014

Cleveland has a long history of cool, aggressive bands. See: Any of Tony Erba’s projects, Integrity, list goes on and on. Add Cruelster to that list; part rock’n’roll, part punk, full on aggression. They’re playing tonight too. Ocean Garden Oriental Foods on Niagara for a measly $fiver. Surf birds, Aaron and the Burrs, and lady elves, Cross Stitch, open the thing. Working on elf time, not punk time. 8pm sharp for a sunday night. Get it out.

Tonight: Brimstone Blondes w/ The Demos

December 22, 2014

Are you sick of shopping malls yet?  I’ll bet you’re not sick of  abandoned Asian food markets and rock and roll! And if you’re saying to yourself “But I am sick of rock and roll…,” then why are you even reading this? I digress. Brimstone Blondes will be kicking off their “Red White & Blonde” Christmas tour tonight with a Chanukah bonanza at Ocean Garden Oriental Foods (1233 Niagara St.). If you didn’t catch them at their release party at Iron Works a few months back, now is your chance to catch their signature blend of charismatic post-punk for yourself. If you did make the release party, you probably know enough not to miss out. You know what they say: go Blonde or go home! (They don’t actually say that.) Two other bands share the bill with The Blondes tonight– Rochester’s power pop pros The Demos will be bringing it along with[...]

Tonight: Breakout

December 19, 2014

In this day and age hardcore and punk bands are a dime a dozen. It takes a special something to capture the ear, beyond the slosh and genre-defining milieu…we’re looking to be inspired. Breakout have all the intangibles to make them stick out from the pack. Their songs are bloody good; hooky and slightly unhinged. You can hear them pull elements from early SoCal punk bands, and make the link to modern hardcore. All with style and poise. Tonight you can find the lone star punks at Ocean Garden Oriental Foods (1233 Niagara St.) along with locals Pissing Match, New Vision, and out of towners Pure Disgust and Hard Stripes. A solid bill filled with some great bands and it’s only $8. Get down to the spot tonight. 7pm for doors, 8pm for punk.

Tonight: Lost Tribe

November 3, 2014

In the early eighties, punk rock was going through a bit of a transformation. Bands such as Christian Death, Bauhaus, 45 Grave, and Specimen were pushing the music into darker, more conceptually macabre avenues, paving the way for goth, death rock and horror-themed post-punk. While these offshoots never took hold in any mainstream sense, the seed was planted, and an incredibly devoted trail of followers have since come to embrace their blackened expanse. The last few years have even seen a rebirth, and now death rock and goth-punk are more popular than ever. A perfect starting point for the uninitiated is Lost Tribe, a Richmond-based band that simultaneously pays tribute to the Southern Death Cults, Alien Sex Fiends, and Psi-Coms of yesteryear whilst still exploring fresh ground and moving the genre to interesting places. Melodic, mysterious, plodding and charging, Lost Tribe is at once homage and yet-still inventive. Their excellent[...]

Today: Vaggie Fest – Day 3

August 9, 2014

If by this point, you’re all Vaggied out, I can only ask you to take heart and soldier on, because this is the big one. Day three of Vaggie Fest is an all-day affair, featuring 13 bands that you are lucky enough to catch for just ten bucks over at Ocean Garden Oriental Foods (right next door to Sugar City). Let me start with the bad news: Pleasure Leftists can’t make it. If you’ve caught them before, then you know that this is a real loss. But they’ll be back soon. Now, the good news: the show is still awesome without them. Five out-of-towners, eight locals. If you’re the thrifty type, I guess it’s worth mentioning that you’re paying just over 75 cents a band (but that feels crass to mention, like informing your dinner guests about the price of each plate). The lineup is: Green Dreams (Rochester, imagine if The[...]