Latest Posts

The Ten Best Songs from Buffalo in 2025

February 2, 2026

As we start getting back to into the swing of things at the blog in 2026, it’s necessary to reflect and share what our favorite songs from 2025 were. It was a great year for the Buffalo music scene, and we can’t wait to see where 2026 brings us. Here’s our favorite ten songs out of Buffalo in 2025 – with a Spotify playlist to listen along.   10. The Burkharts – “Tell Me”   The tail-end of 2025 saw the return of beloved surf-pop scenesters, The Burkharts, with a new single “Tell Me.” The new track stays in the realm of their 60s-soaked beachiness with their usual inspirations of The Beach Boys and The Beatles. No longer the youngsters on the block, The Burkharts continue to evolve their sound while masterfully creating melodies and multi-part harmonies that stick to your ribs. – Ron Walczyk     9. Science Man[...]

Science Man – “Monarch Joy – Pt. 3 (The Laughing Hour)”

December 8, 2025

Buffalo hardcore punk act Science Man are capping off their ultra-busy and ultra-noisy 2025 with the visual release of “Monarch Joy – Pt. 3 (The Laughing Hour),” the final installment of their Monarch Joy album-accompanying short film series.   Featuring the songs “Puzzle Hoax,” “Lesser Species” and “The Laughing Hour,” the latest short soundtracks the conclusion of the abstract journey of our unnamed protagonist as they navigate a dark fantasy world inhabited with unexpected friends and dangerous foes.   Directors Lindsay Tripp and Science Man frontman John Toohill bring their Terry Gilliam-inspired vision to life using an impressive DIY combo of homemade costumes, papier-mâché masks, green screen, and stop-motion. Their art direction continues to stand out as unique and singular; building upon a surreal collage of landscapes and characters scrapbooked together with mismatched paper cut-outs and clippings, similar to the cover art of the Blood Brothers classic …Burn, Piano Island,[...]

Must See Shows (10/1/25-10/7/25)

September 30, 2025

Saturday, October 4th @ 1pm THEYFEST IV @ Amy’s Place / Area 54   Queer DIY collective, The Lavender Room, celebrate their fourth year as an organization that has been unwavering in their promotion and support of the LGBTQIA+ music and arts scene. This year’s THEYFEST features a wide variety of local and regional talents, dabbling in pop, to hip-hop, to hardcore. There are so many bands to check out, but in order to save time just know there will be pop-in sets from Science Man, Muddle, Welks Mice, Stress Dolls, Neftali, Bile Study, All Maine Points, Torture Agenda, and much much more. The festival starts at 1pm and goes into the wee hours of Sunday morning so pack like four Bang Energies and a Nalgene. $15 and all-ages.   Blub Blub by Welks Mice Monday, October 6th @ 7pm AFI @ Buffalo RiverWorks   AFI aka A Fire Inside has[...]

Science Man – Monarch Joy

June 12, 2025

Stage dive for cover because Buffalo’s diabolical Science Man returns with his latest hardcore punk abomination, Monarch Joy.   After a 5-year banishment touring the Rust Belt countryside, local scenester heavyweight John Toohill’s project has evolved from the lone multi-hyphenate and a drum machine to a full-blown and fully-realized ensemble. Recorded and mixed by Toohill and John Angelo, and mastered by the latter, the LP marks Science Man’s latest experiment as his most cohesive and focused work to date.   Monarch Joy is sutured together with chunks of hardcore punk, garage and noise rock and injected with expressionistic themes of moral decay, sacrifice and religion’s influence on society. Toohill breathes life into his bastard creation with barking vocals that rage with the ferocity of a feral, caged animal.   The record opens with the unsettling instrumental track, “S.C.I.M.N.” Featuring a grotesque cacophony of screeching horns, droning guitars and tumbling drums,[...]

Must See Shows (3/5/25-3/11/25)

March 4, 2025

Saturday, March 8th @ 8pm Chores @ The Cave Rochester indie outfit Chores plays Buffalo this Saturday in support of their new cassette, Tender as a Wound. For those who follow the blog closely, you’ll remember Chores as they were our Album of the Week back in December 2024. Grunge-y locals Stress Dolls will share the stage and are the only representative from Buffalo on this one, with Syracuse indie-pop act Paper Rabbit making the 11 exit trip down the 90 for this goodwill exchange. The three bands will be trading off gigs between The Cave, the Bug Jar in Rochester on March 21st, and ending the run with a show at Syracuse’s famed Funk’n Waffles on April 4th. So if you like what you see, you can do this two more times. $10 for this one and it’s a steal.   Tender As A Wound by Chores   Sunday,[...]

SCIENCE MAN Drops New Video for “Brazilian Napkins”

October 17, 2019

Open up your mind (and ears) and let SCIENCE MAN come in. Buffalo’s premier garage punk monstrosity is back with some bizarre visuals complimenting single “Brazilian Napkins.”  Intense, grotesque and single-shot, the performance gives off shades of the Ludovico Technique, if paired with thrashing guitar riffs. Between spastic actions of dental hygiene, SCIENCE MAN (John Toohill) screams of emotional desperation, drawing on recent experiences in Sao Paulo to round out a track that’s heavy from the ceiling to the floor. SCIENCE MAN dropped the vid to kick off a two-week tour through the Rust Belt and beyond with Nervous Tick and The Zipper. They return to Buff to tear down Pallet Town on 10/25. Have a listen:

Tonight: Slow Cooker

May 11, 2019

Tonight Buffalo surf punks Slow Cooker celebrate the release of their debut LP Do A Kickflip at Duende at Silo City with an international lineup featuring fellow local punks Science Man  and 2 of London (Ontario)’s finest punk up and comers KLAZO and MANAGER. With Do A Kickflip Slow Cooker (Ian McCrohan, Andy Krzystek, Joe McGrath, Adam Malchof) stretches out their sound to embrace some psychedelia, garage rock, and New Wave while staying true to their school of wanton thrash and scuzzy surf punk. Science Man aka John (one half of Night Slaves) Toohill will be playing some jams from his recently released eponymous debut, while London Ontario’s KLAZO and MANAGER will be getting everything started with their respective  crushing thrash punk and mind shredding and doom laden noise rock. Big kudos to Duende for trading the laid back, folk vibes they’ve become known for since opening last summer for some straight up[...]

Tonight: Science Man Tour Kick Off

April 19, 2019

Garage rock supervillain Science Man lays waste to Buffalo’s Mohawk Place tonight and lights the fuse for his destructive new tour with the help of local minions. Science Man, the solo project and alter ego of Buffalo multihyphenate John Toohill, has been busy in and outside his heinously deranged laboratory. After unleashing a bulldozing debut LP to stellar reviews last month, Science Man has been terrorizing venue stages with an all-out garage rock assault. If you’re into slimy riffs, hammering drums and rough-and-tumble vocals, this set is your perfect poison. Also taking part in tonight’s destruction are punk rockers, Facility Men. You don’t want to miss this gnarly four-piece rip it up with primal tracks that strike raw nerves like lightning. Expect howling vocals over catchy garage grooves and a whole lot of chaos during this anticipated performance. Opening cronies include garage punk rockers, Quitman, and mutant punkers, Nervous Tick[...]

Tonight: Science Man LP Release Show

March 8, 2019

Come out and get weird tonight at Buffalo’s Electric Avenue as the mysterious lo-fi hard rocker, Science Man, celebrates the release of his debut self-titled LP and the first stop on his new tour. Born out of a science experiment gone horribly wrong, or horribly right, Science Man (John Toohill) is a self-described “monstrosity of rock and roll.” His stellar new album is made up of 11 tracks of gnarly and grimy garage rock that will melt your face faster than a Bunsen burner. With heavier-than-lead grooves, Science Man will stand on your neck and sing over you with dynamic and charismatic vocals. This is going to be a surefire combustible and volatile set, so save yourself the regret and witness Science Man before he blasts off. Getting in on the fun is the doomy Buffalo trio, Malarchuk. These guys bring crushing riffs directly from Valhalla that reek of such[...]