Buried Treasure Gets Trampled by Buffalo
Wow. I guess if you don’t read this site regularly, that headline makes no fucking sense whatsoever. So be it. Mysterious headlines are totally tr00 kvlt.
Aussie rockers Buffalo issued one of the great underground classics of the heavy ’70s in the form of 1973’s Volcanic Rock. They were never huge in their day, they put out a couple records and lost members, put out a couple m
ore records, and then broke up. Pretty much the story of every band ever. But if you’re a fan of early Black Sabbath and you don’t check out Volcanic Rock, you’re missing out.
It’s another one of those records that I’d had my eye on for what feels like an eternity before I finally gave in and picked it up from eBay. The version I got — a silver-disc in a full jewel case with professionally printed artwork — is nonetheless almost certainly a bootleg. There’s no label information on any of the art, but the disc says “SM The CD Label” and lists its country of origin as West Germany. Cold War boots. Awesome.
Whatever. Unlike every other edition of Volcanic Rock I could find in the wide intertubular expanse, this one was reasonably priced, so no regrets. It’s hard to pick a
favorite track among the five killer bluesy, heavy riffing cuts, but I think “Freedom” might just be it. The bassline is too awesome to go ignored, and though opener “Sunrise (Come My Way)” is catchy, the preaching in “The Prophet” is top notch and the riff from “Shylock” is so “Symptom of the Universe” it makes my head want to explode that I didn’t buy this record sooner, there’s a doomed groove to “Freedom” that trumps all.
In the long run, Buffalo‘s second album is probably more known for its artwork — the skull-faced androgyne on top of a lava-menstruating volcano holding aloft a penis-shaped rock — than the music itself, but these songs flat-out rule. I’m glad as hell that I didn’t make a heavy ’70s podcast before picking this one up. Good shit, highly recommended for riff historians and those who, like me, weren’t there the first time around.
Tags: Australia, Buffalo, Sydney
This was my first exposure to this band a few years ago. The album is awesoem and should be heard by all. Their other albums though, good but not as good as Volcanic Rock. Thanks, now you got me itching to hear it again (it’s been a while).
Hey mate,
Yep, is indeed an alltime classic! I’ve got some kinda German issue too but have worn it out. It’s been re-issued by Aztec here in Australia. Go to http://www.aztecmusic.net/006.htm for Volcanic and checkout http://www.aztecmusic.net for a heap o’ other (really nicely done) oz-rock classic re-issues (check out Coloured Balls for more heavyadelicatude & Tumbleweed as a less-bottom-end Acrimony but with better songs). Not cheap but worth the price in love and packaging.
Nice post in a string of ’em that are regularly illuminating and always well written.
Ta from the south.
Great album, absolute classic. I’d love to track down an original vinyl. Freedom is godlike in it’s sluggish sprawl.