DC ROCK CLUB
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Friday, January 25, 2008

Concert Preview: Buffalo Tom w/ Revival


Buffalo Tom made its name in the 90's playing heartfelt Noise Pop. Or Jangle Pop. Well, it's some favor of indie rock that was popular with college radio back in the day. They're best know for their 1992 release Let Me Come Over and Big Red Letter Day, released the following year. I admit I'm not familiar with their catalog of work. I listened to their early albums and wasn't exactly blown away. The music is decent enough. Here's my take on Buffalo Tom. Certain bands are timeless and will be loved for years by all ages of music fans. Others are good but best experienced during their heyday. They capture a time in your life and it's not the same for someone listening 10 years later. The Rockists recently posted a bunch of bands I think fit this category. I mean, if you didn't listen to Shellac as a kid, are you really going to be a big fan now? The same goes for Buffalo Tom (IMHO).

All that being said, I do enjoy their latest effort. Three Easy Pieces has less distortion than previous albums, more guitar melodies, and a larger emphasis on the vocals. The aging of the band is evident. It's not adult alternative but it's not some whiny emo band either.

The openers tonight are Revival, a local band made up of former members of Canyon. These guys are as close to Country as we're going to see (think country-folk like Kris Kristofferson - you know you love him). For that very reason I'm insisting we make our way to the Black Cat early. We've missed many a quality opening band because we're lounging at Potsy's place. Let's not make the same mistake yet again.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

The men in that band look kind of old for a band. Like they should be driving carpool.

Jumbo Slice said...

You're right. They have a bunch of kids between them and only play shows on the weekends.

They even said in an interview that "We’re just about ready to hand the guitars to our kids. I hate to say it, but I’m really getting too old for this."

Jimbromski said...

(1) Prediction: Gob Iron pt 2

(2) -5 points for use of "IMHO"

(3) Revise last para to read, "we've thankfully missed many shit opening bands because we were lounging at Potsy's place."

KCG said...

Buffalo Tom are BORE. RING. The lead singer sounds like a congested Elvis Costello and their songs are uninspired. I think Jumbo has 'em pegged. It's gonna be a long night, fellas, so make it count at the pre-party.

Anonymous said...

I wouldn't put Shellac into this category due to their unique sound and it being a post-punk supergroup. Or an engineer's band.

Anonymous said...

It's unfortunate that KCG thinks that Buffalo Tom's songs are uninspired. While their arrangements are simple, I think they make the most out of the guitar-bass-drums dynamic. I like a lot of fussy, complicated indie rock but it is refreshing to go to a show and hear a band just deliver big hooks, catchy melodies and a loud guitar. Bonus points to BT for enthusiastically playing a rock show with total disregard for the fact that the height of their popularity was over 10 years ago (see also, The Smoking Popes at the Black Cat on 08/02/07).

I am a biased fanboy but I had a blast at the show, as did almost everyone else there that night.

Anonymous said...

Jumbo,
This is your older, wiser, handsomer brother MC. I used to love Buffalo Tom back in my heyday in the mid 90s.

The 90's were my wheelhouse. Don't you dare trash my wheelhouse.

Then again, I was mostly drunk in the 90s, so never mind.

Anyway, I'm glad to see that some of the bands I used to listen to are still around. Let me know if you hear from Primal Scream, the Soup Dragons, the Pixies, the Stone Roses or Bell Biv Devoe.

Thanks,
MC Fisticuffs.

Anonymous said...

I met Bell Biv Devoe. They helped me up when I tripped on my hanging bag. Well, Bell and Biv helped me; Devoe stood there looking annoyed.