Search - Avi Buffalo :: Avi Buffalo

Band of Colts - great start!

E. Brunak | Portland, OR USA | 06/02/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I was headed for the Sasquatch Music fest (Washington state), saw them on the bill, was totally unfamiliar. Tracked them down, quickly fell in love with their talent, enthusiasm and rich melodies. Flaming Lips, early Neil Young, shades of early Modest Mouse come to mind - but all filtered through the unique Avi.



Lastly, finally realized that they've become what Band of Horses should have been...BOH has, in my opinion, lost its legs (maybe why they're no longer on my favorite label, Sub Pop - who signed, almost in their place, Avi Buffalo).



Just saw them 2 days ago, and they're spot on live (though Avi is a spazz, who needs to let the other band members reign him in). They're so young, I see lots of great things in their future."

Avi Buffalo - S/T 7/10

Rudolph Klapper | Los Angeles / Orlando | 08/08/2010

(4 out of 5 stars)

"When precocious Long Beach young `uns Avi Buffalo released their anticipated debut earlier this year, they had all the prerequisites for their own hype machine: hot single(s), Pitchfork approval, a fairly surprising rating on Metacritic (82!). I listened to one song, judged them as an early Shins knock-off and promptly forgot about them. That's the problem with hype - too much of it and you go into the listen expecting something utterly mind-blowing, something that will live up to an almost mythic status all this blogosphere talk builds up yet rarely matches. Avi Buffalo is not mind-blowing, nor is it even one of the best debuts I've heard this year. Simply put, it's great, solid indie-pop music, music that merely portends the arrival of a band that has more potential than most their age and some pretty slick songwriting chops.



I really wanted to give this a higher rating, particularly after hearing gems like opener "Truth Sets In" or "Coaxed," songs that replicate the gentle flow of (yes) early Shins or debut-album Noah and the Whale. It's twee without being overly cute, something hard to do when your band is besieged everywhere they go by the constant addendum "but they're only 19!!!" Excellently-named vocalist Avigdor Zahner-Isenberg sounds just like a dozen other indie-pop vocalists, having mastered the art of the high-pitched, fragile whisper and the occasional faux falsetto, but it's the songwriting that elevates Avi Buffalo from the also-rans. "What's In It For?" is a fantastic pop single, marrying a beautiful melody to a stick-in-your-head hook and the kind of instant accessibility that future MTV-show soundtracks are made of. That's not a knock on the band's obvious penchant for writing songs everyone is interested in nowadays, but a testament to how well the songs click. It helps that Isenberg is actually quite the guitar player, making the unexpected fretwork on tunes like "Jessica" and "Remember Last Time" the highlights rather than the strong pop foundations the songs are built on. Even when the solos go on a bit too long, as they do most egregiously on the 7-and-a-half-minute "Remember Last Time," Isenberg's jangly guitar work is pleasant enough to forgive the youthful wankery.



But then there's songs like the lackluster "Can't I Know" or the way too much of the latter half of the album bleeds together, something that can't really be avoided when Avi Buffalo stick strictly to their inoffensive guitar-pop formula throughout. While "Where's Your Dirty Mind" and "One Last" are good songs in their own right, it's obvious that Avi Buffalo is a front-loaded record, with the best melodies ending with "Summer Cum." That last is another divisive issue with the band, being the clearest example of Isenberg's juvenile lyrical bent. But hey, he's young, and although in the future he might try a more diplomatic approach to describing adolescent love, it's nonetheless impressive that Isenberg can turn sheet stains into one of the sweeter love songs of the year. Avi Buffalo wear their musical influences on their sleeves (Built To Spill, the aforementioned Shins, Elephant 6, etc. etc.), and their lyrical direction is more Superbad than J.D. Salinger, but it's charming without being cloying, poppy without being overly sugary. Most importantly, it's the kind of debut that leaves you thrilled for what the future may bring, and that's something special."

Fantastic Pantheistic Pagan Folk Rock

M. JEFFREY MCMAHON | Torrance, CA USA | 05/08/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is my favorite album in 2010 thus far, a real surprise. I heard track 8 on KCRW a few weeks ago and bought the whole CD. Beautiful melodies and backing vocals sound like I'm in the woods listening to a bunch of wood spirits with an overall sound that reminds me of Crosby, Stills & Nash's classic "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes." Fans of Page France, the Flaming Lips, and Ronderlin should love this album."