Latest Posts

Red Heat – Dark Days

September 24, 2018

Seemingly, the biggest outlier on Red Heat’s new album, Dark Days, is the song “Yojimbo.” Most of the songs on the album are very literal and highly political, but “Yojimbo” is a relatively direct recounting of the movie of the same name. In their fierce, subtly technical punk vernacular, Red Heat recounts the story of a masterless samurai who stumbles into a village ravaged by violence and reluctantly saves it from itself. Except, look at the lyrics: “The bodyguard is trying to kill you, Better get your wallet out. This town is a graveyard now, The cooper’s all sold out. The old mayor plays his prayer drum, While the new mayor’s selling silk, ‘Til they burn the silk house down and put a sword in his gut.” What’s missing here? The hero. There’s no change, no action, no resolution. The agent of change has been excised. “Yojimbo” has been reduced[...]

Tonight: Tundrastomper

October 19, 2015

The freshly reopened West Side basement spot Curly’s will host a night of solid indie and punk tunes. The show boasts some great local acts, including the wildly unique drum duo CCDS, the new lady quintet known as Basement Rat, and the thinking man’s punk trio, Red Heat. The touring act is Ardsley, New York’s Tundrastomper, a band which cooks up just the right mix of surf rock, punk, and indie into something that is just plain fun. Things are set to take off right at 7pm with CCDS with a cover of only $5.

Jawbone Releases Follow Up Record, 2

October 13, 2015

Jawbone, a dream team act of sorts featuring some of Steak and Cake’s regular players – Elias Van Son (Beekeeper), Ben Randall (the Etchings), Brandon Schlia (Red Heat, Rackmastas), and former Batavia native turned LA transplant Adam Steinbrenner – have re-teamed to release their follow up record to last year’s contribution to the label’s 2014 improv trilogy.  Recorded over a three hour writing/recording session at the S&C homebase of Curly’s, 2 is an impressive and very well flowing album, one that is especially remarkable given the record’s short turn around time. The lyrics were scavenged from old, unused poems written by Van Son, while the layered harmonies are provided by the Beekeeper front man, Schlia, Steinbrenner, and fellow S&C mainstay, Jaz Frazier. Creepy Clues-y keyboards, rugged early Saddle Creek instrumentation, and Paul Banks meets Aaron Weiss (mewithoutYOU) vocals, make 2 an album that you need to download immediately and cherish on your mobile devices. Check[...]

Zinnicimo Films Releases “A Rackmastas Dream”

July 7, 2015

Buffalo turned Las Vegas animator and filmmaker Robert Zinni of Zinnicimo Films recently released his latest project, a “visual remix” of Sax Appeal, the 2014 EP from the on-going grab bag duo of Rackmastas (Brandon Schilia and Jordan Jones of RED HEAT). ‘”A Rackmastas Dream” follows two inter-dimensional brothers, Harvie & Onezie, as they take a trip across time and space,” explains Zinni. “It took me about eight months to complete. Every movement, texture, and animation, I did myself. I took images or videos and manipulated them to create a world.” With the meticulously crafted, 8-bit inspired stop motion clip in the bag, Zinni will next team up RED HEAT as the politically minded punk trio is set to provide the score for his upcoming film Murphy 2. In the mean time, watch “A Rackamastas Dream” below.

Tonight: Kal Marks

June 27, 2015

There are so many for cool shows to attend recently and if you haven’t made up your mind about tonight, then here’s another option: some rockin bands at a house on Hoyt. Kal Marks, heavy indie from Boston, will be rolling through with IAN playing dreamy fuzz from California in the vein of contemporaries Alvvays and Slutever. Political indie punk band Red Heat will be supporting. Lushes will round out the bill. So its 7pm at Hoyt House for $7 or whatever  you have.

Steak & Cake Records

June 20, 2015

The Herd Fest-ivities continue on this glorious Saturday! Make sure you’re ready to rally by noon today, so you can head over to Record Theatre on Main Street for the Steak & Cake Records showcase. Steak & Cake Records is a DIY indie-rock label founded by Brandon Schlia (Mink, RED HEAT) that offers professional recording, production, mixing and distribution services for local artists. In other words, it is both a staple and accurate representation of Buffalo’s self-sufficient nature and synergistic music community — separate projects coming together to form something much greater than the sum of the individual parts. Dozens of wonderfully crafted records have been birthed through Schlia’s studio since its conception in 2011. If you haven’t explored S & C’s catalog on their bandcamp page, I highly suggest doing so now. This year’s showcase features seven Buffalo (and Philadelphia) based artists that support and are very much apart[...]

Tonight: Northern Spies

June 11, 2015

Lately it seems like some of Rochester’s best and up-and-coming acts have been making frequent stops to Buffalo and the trend continues tonight as ROCH foursome, Northern Spies, will take the stage at Sugar City. The power pop group, which features members of KOPPS and Quarries, recalls acts like Elvis Costello, the Byrds, REM, and Stephen Malkmus. While the band only has a short EP to its name, the late 2014 released Nothing But Static, its spring released Genesee Live session should give a nice indication of what to expect later on from NS. Music begins this 8pm with a cover of $5. Indie rock trio turned quartet, Wolf, and Steak & Cake’s politically minded act, RED HEAT, will round out the bill. And please remember to leave the booze and drugs at home as Sugar City is a substance free space.

Krill

Tonight: Krill

May 18, 2015

Krill is a band with all the right buzz in all the right places. Hailing from Boston, they’ve garnered a super concrete East Coast fan base with their unique brand of what they simply deem “guitar rock.” They’ve settled into this mold of acceptance among avid followers of their label, Exploding In Sound, but they are totally okay with playing for the sake of playing to a crowd that will listen. Their latest release, A Distant Fist Unclenching, is a testament to their ability to create artful music that is balanced in both musicality and lyrical content. It’s grungy and dark, but equally playful when it comes to thematic elements and overall sound. I was lucky enough to catch the band on an all-star bill in Allston, Massachusetts this past September. Their set left me numb, but in the greatest way possible. Lucky for you, you can catch them in a[...]

Tonight: Krelboyne & Shit Blimp

February 22, 2015

End your weekend right: let four bands, two from Ohio, pummel you with sludgy punk. Shit Blimp and Krelboyne are coming to the Glitterbox, joined by locals Dream Journal and Red Heat. If you’re wondering what a Shit Blimp could possibly sound like, check the very first bass notes on the band’s demo: that’s exactly what a Shit Blimp sounds like. It’s not all heart-stopping low end, though: mostly it’s aggressive, fast, punch-your-face punk. Krelboyne can play in the same vein, but they’ve got a little bit more indie-rock groove in the tank. That vibe and its deceptive catchiness makes lines about “scrambling for answers in the bottom of a bottle,” spending your time on earth “eternally as a fumbling fucking imbecile” come across less like self-pity and more like relatable, uncontrollable internal rumination, which in turn makes it a whole lot easier to bob your head along to. Doors[...]

Red Heat Shares Follow Up EP, Poisoning the Grand High Witch

February 17, 2015

Valentine’s Day is a time of love and passion (and mindless consumerism, but I digress), so it seems almost poetic–ironic, even–that Red Heat put out a fresh slew of political punk songs to digest this February 14th. The EP, titled Poisoning the Grand High Witch, is red hot (heh) and dirty, channeling the emotional rawness of an early Cursive or Desaparacidos and the discordant dance vibes of Death From Above 1979. The new release is currently streaming over on Steak and Cake’s bandcamp page and is available as a pay-what-you-want download. Check out “CHOMSKY” below and follow the link for more of this biting goodness.

Red Heat

November 11, 2014

Red Heat sounds like some kind of STD that possibly ran rampant through US Soldiers stationed in the South Pacific during World War II. Rather, Red Heat is a thinking man’s punk trio consisting of Jordan Jones (drums), Nick Randall (guitar), and Brandon Schlia (bass/ vocals). The sound of fuzzy, infectious walking bass lines paired with the political vocals of Schlia draw you in, attacking such issues as militarization, national media, public education, and even Ferguson, MO. “My job is to write lyrics that run short but make a point,” Schlia explains, “like Bukowski if his obsession was world politics and not beer & pussy.” Red Heat uses everything at their disposal. They make you want to lock yourself in your bedroom and get reacquainted with every punk rock ever made from The Stooges all the way to NOFX, and everything else in between. Heat manages to even operate outside of[...]

Tonight: Slingshot Dakota

November 3, 2014

I was lucky enough to catch a set from Topshelf Records’ Slingshot Dakota the last time they rolled through Buffalo at Sugar City. Singer Carly Comando had a wicked sore throat, but powered through an energetic set full bolstered solely by bouncy keyboards and drums. For lack of a better word, it was really punk. Luckily for us, the duo is back in Buffalo tonight supported by Real People (who also played last time they were here), Cross Stitch, and Red Heat. The show is $5, doors are at 6:00pm, music starts at 7:00pm, and it will be over by 10:00. Ask a punk if you don’t know where the Glitterbox is. [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/21281355″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”450″ iframe=”true” /]