Second album from Avi Buffalo (alias of Avi Zahner-Isenberg and his band) a follow-up to his self-titled 2010 debut (the one with the wonderful 'What's It In For').
The overall sound is of laid-back, floaty West Coast American pop with Elliott Smith-style falsetto vocals. Avi himself commented that “There are a lot of elements I've always heard, loved and wanted to put into a record such as : distorted guitar, piano , juicy bass and some light orchestration ...” , there are echoes of mid-70's Steve Hackett (kids, ask your dad) in Avi's very skilful guitar playing, particularly on the exit solo in 'Memories of You' and 'Oxygen Tank'.
But don't think Avi's on a floaty, hippy, vibe ride because the lyrical themes are going catch you out; “Couple nights ago, I ran over two dogs, then I ate them after.”, “I had a dream that you were acting normal. It made me wake up feeling like a stone ...If every dream I have betrays me like this ..”. The simple piano-driven 'She is Seventeen' , “Cower beneath it with your siren sticking needles in your arm”!
The mix of the light and the dark is particularly effective on 'Oxygen Tank', which starts by cheerfully informing us that, “A man carrying an oxygen tank is gonna come and kill me and my family too if I don't stop seeing you”, then proceeds to talk about his head filing with “..the guilty clouds and sounds of babies screaming, coughing, breathing poorly in the back seat”, before finding himself “ One more chance and I'll be strung up in a tree, off a bridge or worse”. As Avi described these songs as “..a collection that I felt articulated important moments or feelings in my life”,you wonder if there's a help-line number you should pass onto him?
Fortunately, it's a quite wonderful collection of songs ; 'Memories of You', and 'Think It's Gonna Happen Again' on their own make this album special and well deserving the praise being given to it by Rough Trade, Lauren Laverne, NME etc.; best not to dwell too long on the contents of the lyrics though.
Alisdair Whyte
10/11 (a place in the Top Ten of 2014 is now taken)
UK Dates:
03 Oct Manchester The Deaf Institute
06 Oct Glasgow Broadcast
08 Oct Bristol Thekla
10 Oct London Islington Assembly Hall
Tracks
So What
Memories of You
Can't Be Too Responsible
Two Cherished Understandings
Overwhelmed with Pride
Found Blind
She is Seventeen
Think It's Gonna Happen Again