Latest Posts

Adult Jazz – Gist Is

August 14, 2014

On a loose, idiosyncratic, freewheeling debut,  Adult Jazz display a broad, virtuosic interest in packing as many musical ideas into an album as possible. The UK act combine the bobbing melodic panache of the Dirty Projectors with the lunging Afro-beat tendencies of Vampire Weekend and the slow-and-steady indie-pop momentum of a band like Beach House. They blend folk gentleness with the promised jazz of their namesake. A cafe-friendly pleasantness buries itself in highly unfocused song structures. Tribal percussion joins electric and acoustic guitars in forward flows of streams-of-consciousness. And through it all, Adult Jazz, leaving limits and constraints to less adventurous groups, somehow remain aesthetically consistent. The album’s sixth, and most mesmerizing track, “Spook,” best exemplifies the band’s coyly curious style. Slithering in and out of different musical skins with grace and ease, the song keeps its near ten minute running time alive and endearing. Although shorter tracks like “Am Gone”[...]

Kerfuffle at Canalside (7/26/14)

July 27, 2014

Considering that Alternative Buffalo 107.7 is only nine months old, it’s a bit of a miracle that their inaugural one day festival was as much a success as it was. After gestating for three full trimesters, the fledgling radio station has given birth to something that should, realistically, become a part of Buffalo tradition. The day’s execution had its flaws: the beer tents periodically ran out of water at an event where no outside water bottles were allowed and it was not made clear that the food trucks wouldn’t accept Canalside food/beverage tickets. But overall, given 107.7’s youth and that it was a virgin voyage for the station, the experience offered was incredible. Not only did the rain mostly stay away in spite of weather reports to the contrary, the acts themselves were sharp, lively, and remarkably well-connected to the crowd of ten thousand. After showcasing the ecstatic old-timey ramble[...]

Alvvays – Alvvays

July 24, 2014

Entering through the indie pop door by way of Vivian Girls and Best Coast, Toronto’s Alvvays have arrived on the tinny, reverb-loving scene with their first LP. Like CHVRCHES, Alvvays recognize the Google-friendly potential of the letter “v” when borrowing a common word and stylistically recasting it as a band name. Unlike CHVRCHES, Alvvays rely strictly on a traditional rock n’ roll set up, mostly avoiding synthetic sounds in their garage-twee tunes. For a debut record, Alvvays is modest but consistent. The band is young, taking its first tentative steps out. As they jangle forward into the unknown, they move lightly and carefully, never stumbling. Lead singer Molly Rankin has the sort of sweet, near-childlike voice that indie music lovers have always been welcoming of. Rankin’s lyrics populate the emotional ambiguities she delves into with concrete details. The band’s lead single, “Marry Me, Archie,” opens with a memorable jab at a marriage-allergic boyfriend: “You’ve[...]

Tonight: Jolie Holland

July 18, 2014

Jolie Holland‘s take on Americana is hardened and harrowing, a bracing brand of homegrown darkness. Injecting elements of jazz, soul, and rock n’roll into her country-noir folk songs, the Houston singer-songwriter embodies the sum total of our American music traditions. Tonight, Holland’s intimate performance at Babeville‘s Ninth Ward will demonstrate her range, precision, and passion. She will be accompanied by the similarly formidable Shy Hunters from Brooklyn. Tickets to this evening’s event are only $12. Doors open at 7pm.

Tonight: Arctic Monkeys

June 18, 2014

Between the fact that the Arctic Monkeys remain one of the biggest acts in the world and that tickets to see them here at Artpark were ridiculously cheap, it’s no surprise tonight’s outdoor concert is sold out. For those lucky ticket holders (or those who can do some last minute scalping at inflated prices), the Arctic Monkeys show this evening at 6:30pm should be worth braving the traffic for. The band’s most recent album, AM, is arguably their best, featuring slick, soulful songwriting and a dark conceptual arc. The British rockers will be joined by Austin’s White Denim for a night under the stars (or under the rain clouds (we’ll see)). Get there somehow.

The Antlers – Familiars

June 12, 2014

Since Hospice emerged as a narrative record of tremendous emotional force in 2009, The Antlers have consistently defined themselves through their weightiness. There is no hip posturing, no casual cleverness, and very little pop sensibility to the music they spin forth from what Isaac Brock might call “the dark center of the universe.” Although Burst Apart, The Antlers’ more contained follow-up to Hospice, found the band exploring tight song structures and stepping away from the glorious concept album fullness of their previous release, Familiars, the act’s fifth record, returns to the musical looseness of Hospice while applying a vague conceptual framework. Familiars lacks the immediate thrust and devastating intimacy of Hospice’s tales of cancer, regret, and trauma. It also lacks Burst Apart‘s comparative accessibility. And yet Familiars is as gorgeous a flutter of genuine feeling as one can wish for from Brooklyn’s most cathartic conveyors of human desperation. Frontman Peter Silberman’s vocals remain extraordinary[...]

Vampire Weekend at the Outer Harbor (6/9/14)

June 10, 2014

To begin with the obvious: last night could not have been a more beautiful evening for an outdoor concert. Though I apparently am Buffalo-illiterate, confusing Canalside with the Outer Harbor, a ride on the water taxi over to the event, shuttling me from one part of the harbor to the other, was more than pleasant given the conditions. With all good weather factors in place (a light breeze, moderate summer temperatures, plenty of sun), Vampire Weekend had the elements working to their advantage. The band did not squander their opportunity to shine. After a solid but somewhat lackluster opening performance by Cults, Vampire Weekend were quick to take the audience by the throat, jumping immediately into the exuberant “Diane Young.” Frontman Ezra Koenig, despite maintaining a Twitter account worthy of a stand-up comedian, is straightforward on stage, keeping banter at a minimum, diving directly into his songs. Vampire Weekend require no banter to entertain, however, and[...]

Parquet Courts – Sunbathing Animal

June 5, 2014

Parquet Courts might sound like punk slackers, barely capable of playing their instruments let alone organizing actual songs, but on closer examination such a judgment wouldn’t be quite accurate. In an interview with the Washington Post, the band reveal an astute understanding of classical music and the blues, as well as an orchestral background for co-lead singer/guitarist Andrew Savage. Seemingly scrappy and thrown-together, Sunbathing Animal, the Brooklyn act’s third record, is full of intention. If Parquet Courts come across as The Modern Lovers under relationship strain or Pavement with a few cracks in the concrete, it’s only because that’s what they want to be. It’s an odd aesthetic: feigned incompetence reaching toward sublimity. Parquet Courts’ lyrics attempt to appear as tossed off as the music, but the wit and breadth of their references unveil the band’s underlying intelligence. On the title track, Savage unloads aphorisms and opaque observations like a semi-automatic[...]

The Orwells – Disgraceland

May 29, 2014

After getting mocked on Letterman for their dozy on-stage theatrics, The Orwells seem poised for the big time with their second LP. “Who Needs You” is already making its radio rotation rounds with gusto, and the Pixies punch of its rockabilly-garage-punk-Fourth-of-July-parading makes for a snappy firecracker of a single. For fans of the sound, Disgraceland serves up eleven tracks in the same needle-prodded vein. Disgraceland revels in the raunchy, undignified, balls-out rock its title embraces. Its scuzzy, drugged, sometimes psychotically violent party anthems are out to restore a jagged dangerousness to rock n’ roll. In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, guitarist Matt O’Keefe complains about the “safe and soft” tendencies of synthesizer-dominated modern rock. The Orwells blatantly pursue an old school classic rock set-up, infusing the standard model with wicked rebel energy. From the beginning, the record is hungry and horny, teeth sharpened and bared, eager to devour. “Southern[...]

Sharon Van Etten – Are We There

May 22, 2014

Sharon Van Etten has followed up the exquisite Tramp with another husky, dusky take on relationship devastation and persistence.  Are We There, the Brooklyn songwriter’s fourth album in five years, is dark and forceful as an expansive folk undercurrent lifts the music up alongside her simmering, rasp-inflected voice. Van Etten’s lyrics are spare, cryptic, filled with loosely linked images and utterances that favor mood over lucidity. Are We There is a mist of impressions, held together by seemingly deeply felt sentiments and the timeless soar of the woman’s vocals. The songs contain a restrained, pointed intensity. With hawk-like drive, the music dives into textures and tones well-matched with the black-and-white on-the-road photography that informs its album art. Though variation often eludes Van Etten, the sound she has developed is mesmeric. From the slinking synth-tinged “Taking Chances” to the direct piano ballad “Nothing Will Change,” Van Etten has created a heavy, melancholic vision.[...]

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart – Days of Abandon

May 15, 2014

When The Pains of Being Pure at Heart debuted in 2009, the band endeared instantly.  A song like “Young Adult Friction” felt wide-eyed and wistful, vividly realized and alive with youth. The tracks on Days of Abandon, the New York City act’s third album, are aged and exhausted in comparison, sleepy little getaways squatting on acres of sound long occupied by Belle & Sebastian. The record’s stronger second half partly compensates for its listless start. “Eurydice” stands out as a legitimate pop single, full of gentle longing and loss. Yet both Nick Cave and Arcade Fire have performed better art rock takes on the Orpheus and Eurydice myth, and the track still suffers from the same aesthetic gutlessness that permeates most of the album. “Until the Sun Explodes” fares better as a brief nova-burst of twee energy. Perhaps a cleaner, more naked production approach makes Days of Abandon feel less rapturous and[...]

The Horrors – Luminous

May 8, 2014

Names can be deceiving. In spite of their moniker, The Horrors are about as terrifying-sounding as a hot bath or a warm shower (which post-Psycho still might be scary for some). The band also isn’t light and effervescent enough to be described as Luminous, the title of its fourth full-length record. The weight, depth, and density the British rockers imbue their electronic dreamscapes with are qualities that perhaps cannot be labeled tritely or limited to a few ambiguous adjectives. Even if The Horrors decline to articulate their sonic ethos through their titling, the band seems well aware of its place in a musical lineage. Borrowing heavily from seminal bands like The Stone Roses and Spiritualized, The Horrors specialize in stretching influences to meandering, melodic ends. The squealing shoegaze of “Jealous Sun” is a direct descendant of My Bloody Valentine. And yet, in that song and elsewhere, The Horrors feel less murky[...]

Woods – With Light and with Love

April 17, 2014

With Light and with Love, as its creators must have intended, is light and lovely. Yet for an album offering semi-straightforward psychedelia that seems tamer than Tame Impala, there is a fair amount of sonic playfulness. Joy jumps from each note. Woods, a folk rock quartet based in Brooklyn, are an amiable act, cozy and accessible even as they break into glorious five minute jam sessions by track three. The sixties pop revivalism they engage in throughout their eighth record is consistently pleasant. Band founder Jeremy Earl’s high vocals are cheery and effervescent, tiptoeing over his companions’ guitars with gleeful abandon. Though With Light and with Love may close with an eerie collapse into decaying sounds, overall Woods feel like happiness on record. Even with ambiguous lyrical nods to uncertainty, death (which “brings us close”), and time’s passage, Woods never descend into dread. Their work is sweet and summery, with musical nods to[...]

Cloud Nothings – Here and Nowhere Else

April 3, 2014

Cloud Nothings‘ face-crunching fourth album is a fearless, assertive follow-up to 2012’s Attack on Memory. Oscillating between a chaotic rush of existential howls and throaty but tuneful melodies, Here and Nowhere Else pounds its presence out through furious snare slams and clamorous cymbal crashes. For better or worse, Cloud Nothings are as foggy and nihilistic as their namesake implies. “You’re born / you’re gone,” cries frontman Dylan Baldi repeatedly on “No Thoughts,” succinctly whittling the human condition down to its coming and going. As in the songs of similarly-minded peers Titus Andronicus, however, the absurdity and cruelty of existence makes for some pretty addictive punk rock.  Here and Nowhere Else largely consists of blurry, anti-pop assaults of pop song length. Baldi is a dynamic vocalist, sliding from screams to Strokes-style singing with relentless charisma. Even as he complains that “life gets boring, it fades away,” he seems impassioned enough to annihilate the ennui he fears. On[...]