I missed out when Avi Buffalo came through Carrboro earlier this year. They were opening for a less than stellar act and it wasn't worth it, but how foolish I was to skip out on the show. On their new self titled album the group presents a plethora of dimensions to their folk-pop sound.
Here are the top two songs from the album:
Avi Buffalo - Whats In It For?
Avi Buffalo - Truth Sets In [Laundromatinee.com Session]
This album has taken a listen or two to grasp it's lighter goodness but once I established this understand, my iPod was having a hard time playing anything else. The feminine/adolescent elements in Avi's [Avigdor Zahner-Isenberg] voice mixed with the bands eclectic sound has produced the best debut of of 2010 so far. [yep, just ran through my iTunes, this is it.]
Alright, this group of high school buddies, freshly graduated [not yet 21] are making sounds beyond their years and beyond the rest. This album, highly publicized by Sub-Pop, [maybe you've seen it on your favorite blog/aggregator lately] has really shot up to the forefront of the music scene lately. Passed over by many but loved by those who take the time to really give it it's fair shot.
To the tunes. If Ezra Koeing regressed in his current pubescent progression, had no vocal training, and smoked a pack of cigarettes a week a carbon copy of Avi would appear. The innocence in his voice along with Rebecca Coleman's combine to form a super-pop vocal duo. Did I mention that once Sub Pop heard "What's It In For?" on Avi's Myspace, the members grades in High School began to slip. Sorry for poking at their age but I'm 20 and a group producing awesome music at a young age is so impressive, guess I need to start coming to terms with this fact as I am getting older.
The intricate acoustic guitar strummed with such ease and grace accompanied by stealth keyboarding provide for a dubious, sojourning sound that makes a stop sign seem less worthy of a once-over than used Eve 6 album. The guitar riffs in "Remember The Last Time" are straight off the Green Monster, a piece of the puzzle that doesn't fit, but grabs your attention and frustrates you.
Most songs are formed from a Kurt Cobain mold; slowly progressing to a stark, noticeable kick. This brilliant marketing listening scheme is a deep exhale because the kick-ins are teeming with uniqueness and pop/folk euphoria.
On songs such as "Five Little Sluts" their teenage attitudes are exhibited through continuous progressions from instrument to instrument while the vocals change speed/intensity between verse and chorus all with little hooks brooding with angst.
Keeping in mind that this album is Avi Buffalo's DEBUT, this album is an easy listen that stays within the lines of pop but mixes in a cornucopia of claps, shades of folk, chilled guitars. This exceeds expectations and is a very mature sound for this young band.
I'll have to say I liked the physical copy of the album. The CD came in it's own paper-like sleeve modeled after a vinyl, pretty cool. If that isn't a worthy reason then hopefully the words won you over.
Here are the top two songs from the album:
Avi Buffalo - Whats In It For?
Avi Buffalo - Truth Sets In [Laundromatinee.com Session]
No comments:
Post a Comment