Posted in Whathaveyou on December 2nd, 2022 by JJ Koczan
I mean, what can you say to this other than ‘can I come?’ I’ve known this festival was capable of some real-deal shit over the last decade, but this is absolutely epic, which is a word I do my best to avoid. And they end it by saying there’s more to come. God damn. Really. God damn.
Wow.
Here:
Desertfest London announce over 40 bands for 2023
Friday 5th May – Sunday 7th May 2023 | Weekend Tickets on sale now
Desertfest London is rounding off the year with an ear-shattering bang, announcing a mammoth 43 artists to their 2023 line-up. Joining the likes of Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats, Graveyard, Kadavar and Church of Misery, the Camden-based festival also welcomes back Corrosion of Conformity as headliners.
Pioneers of a groove-laden sound that is undeniably their own, Corrosion of Conformity have not been back on UK soil since 2018 so expect big, loud and memorable things from their appearance at Desertfest next year. Corrosion of Conformity have been due to play the event since 2020 – making their return one of the most widely requested in the event’s history.
Japan’s own avant-garde maestros of down-tuned psychedelia Boris leap over to London alongside the crushingly loud tones of NOLA’s own Crowbar. One of the most exciting bands in recent memory King Buffalo, make their long-awaited debut plus Desertfest favourites, Weedeater are back after five long years of chugging whiskey lord-knows-where.
The pace moves up a notch with New York City’s noise-rock guru’s Unsane and British punk-legends Discharge, all of whom bring a detour from the slow’n’low sounds the festival is best recognised for. Montreal’s Big | Brave will play the festival for the first time showcasing their experimental and minimalist take on the notion of ‘heavy’, whilst the doors to the Church of The Cosmic Skull are open, as they ask Desertfest revellers to join them in a union unlike any other.
Desertfest also warmly welcomes noise from STAKE, British anti-fascist black metallers Dawn Ray’d and London’s loudest duo Tuskar as well as some of the best recent stoner acts in the form of Telekinetic Yeti, Weedpecker & Great Electric Quest. Elsewhere the weekend will also see Wren, The Necromancers, Dommengang, Samavayo, Morass of Molasses, Sum of R & GNOB offer up unique live performances.
Rounding off this beast of an announcement are Acid Mammoth, Deatchant, Zetra, Trevor’s Head, Our Man in The Bronze Age, Wyatt E., Iron Jinn, Mr Bison, Troy The Band, Oreyeon, Warren Schoenbright, Early Moods, Longheads, Terror Cosmico, Thunder Horse, TONS, Vinnum Sabbathi, Bloodswamp, The Age of Truth, Earl of Hell and Black Groove.
Weekend Tickets for Desertfest London 2023 are on-sale now via www.desertfest.co.uk with more acts still to be announced.
Day splits and day tickets will be on sale from January.
Full Line-Up for Desertfest London 2023: UNCLE ACID & THE DEADBEATS | GRAVEYARD | CORROSION OF CONFORMITY | KADAVAR | BORIS | CROWBAR | CHURCH OF MISERY | WEEDEATER | KING BUFFALO | BLOOD CEREMONY | DISCHARGE | SOMALI YACHT CLUB | UNSANE | BIG|BRAVE | INTER ARMA | CHURCH OF THE COSMIC SKULL | VALLEY OF THE SUN | STAKE | MARS RED SKY | SPACESLUG | GRAVE LINES | GAUPA | TUSKAR | TELEKINETIC YETI | WEEDPECKER | DAWN RAY’D | WREN | GREAT ELECTRIC QUEST | THE NECROMANCERS | DOMMENGANG | ECSTATIC VISION | SAMAVAYO | MORASS OF MOLASSES | SUM OF R | HIGH DESERT QUEEN | GNOB | EVEREST QUEEN | ACID MAMMOTH | DEATHCHANT | ZETRA | CELESTIAL SANCTUARY | TREVOR’S HEAD | OUR MAN IN THE BRONZE AGE | WYATT E. | MR BISON | TROY THE BAND | PLAINRIDE | IRON JINN | OREYEON | WARREN SCHOENBRIGHT | EARLY MOODS | LONGHEADS | TERROR COSMICO | THUNDER HORSE | TONS | VINNUM SABBATHI | BLOODSWAMP | VENOMWOLF | THE AGE OF TRUTH | EARL OF HELL | BLACK GROOVE | MARGARITA WITCH CULT
Posted in Whathaveyou on November 7th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
By the time they embark in January on this newly-announced stretch of Midwestern and East Coastern touring, Rochester, New York, heavy psychedelic forerunners King Buffalo will have already on doubt reaped a slew of album-of-the-year-type praise for their work on their latest long-player, Regenerator (review here), and who would argue? Jerks, maybe. But those jerks are jerks, so whatever.
Regenerator, the third installment in the band’s pandemic-era trilogy behind 2021’s Acheron (review here) and The Burden of Restlessness (review here), is a culmination of everything the band have done to-date, and it has been widely hailed as a landmark for a group whose influence is already beginning to be felt in the work of others. No, that is not likely to stop as they continue to go town-to-town spreading their own take on prog-informed heavy psych, or as they move into 2023 with the inevitable announcement of European tour dates to follow-up on recent confirmations of performances at Desertfest Berlin and Freak Valley Festival. Let’s see… DF Berlin happens May 19-21, and Freak Valley happens June 8-10, so if they start at the one and end at the other, that’s the better part of a month on the road abroad. No guarantee it won’t be more than that by the time the tour is announced, and I have no doubt there are more fests as a part of it as well. This is a band everybody (rightly) wants a piece of right now, and that’s something they’ve earned no matter how you want to look at it.
They’re out with REZN and The Swell Fellas, at least for some shows, and still wrapping their Fall run in the meantime:
KING BUFFALO – 2023 TOUR DATES ON SALE NOW!
**JUST ANNOUNCED** 1/13 Cleveland @ Grog Shop 1/14 Indianapolis, IN @ Hi-Fi 1/15 St. Louis, MO @ Off Broadway 1/17 Iowa City, IA @ Gabe’s 1/18 Milwaukee, WI @ Colectivo 1/19 Ann Arbor, MI @ Blind Pig 1/20 Pittsburgh, PA @ Cafe Club 1/21 Pittsburgh, PA @ Cafe Club 2/16 Brattleboro, VT @ Stone Church 2/17 Albany, NY @ Empire Live 2/18 Lancaster, PA @ Tellus 360 2/19 Richmond, VA @ Richmond Music Hall 2/21 Charlotte, NC @ Snug Harbor 2/23 Orlando, FL @ Will’s Pub 2/24 Miami, FL @ Gramps 2/25 Tampa, FL @ Crowbar 2/26 St. Augustine, FL @ Cafe 11 2/28 Athens, GA @ Hendershots 3/1 Asheville, NC @ Asheville Music Hall 3/3 Huntington, WV @ The Loud Buy Tickets!
We’re on Tour RIGHT NOW! Come see us on our last shows of the year.
11/7 Portland, OR @ Douglas Fir Lounge 11/8 Boise, ID @ The Olympic 11/9 Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge 11/11 Denver, CO @ Gothic Theatre 11/12 Fort Collins, CO @ Aggie Theatre 11/14 Omaha, NE @ Slowdown Front Room 11/15 Minneapolis, MN @ Fine Line 11/16 Madison, WI @ High Noon 11/17 Chicago, IL @ Sleeping Village 11/18 Chicago, IL @ Sleeping Village 11/19 Grand Rapids, MI @ The Stache 12/10 Boston, MA @ Brighton Music Hall
We’ve announced our return to Freak Valley Festival and Desertfest Berlin in 2023! More to be announced soon.
King Buffalo is: Sean McVay – Guitar, Vocals, & Synth Dan Reynolds – Bass & Synth Scott Donaldson – Drums
Posted in Whathaveyou on November 3rd, 2022 by JJ Koczan
A whopping 15 names dropped in the first announcement from Freak Valley Festival‘s 2023 edition, which also happens to be its 10th anniversary. I was fortunate enough to be there for it in 2022 and hope very much to follow suit next year, having fallen in love with the place, the people, the time. It’s a special thing happening between those German hillsides. If you’ve been, you already know. If you haven’t, tickets go on sale next week, and they’ll be gone. If that makes your FOMO kick in a little bit, good, go with it.
Orange Goblin doing Time Travelling Blues is a hoot, and it’s been more than a decade since I last saw Melvins, so probably time to punch my card there — I’ve been down on them the last however many years, but have the utmost confidence they’ll deliver live — and of course the thought of seeing King Buffalo on that stage, and the likes of Pontiak and Seedy Jeezus and Besvärjelsen for the first time (also a bunch of the others) is exciting. But the name that’s really got me here is Hypnos 69, the reunited Belgian Elektrohasch veterans whose albums Timeline Traveller, The Intrigue of Perception (discussed here), The Eclectic Measure and Legacy (review here), should be commonly regarded as classics and will hopefully get another look as a result of their starting to play again. I mean that. They were incredible. I hope they do another record, too.
A little bit of a different format to the writeup, which I wrote, than in past years, but I think it gets the point across. This is going to be incredible. If it’s at all possible for you not to miss it, don’t. Like they say: “no fillers, just killers”:
Time to start daydreaming about June 2023 and the return of Freak Valley Festival! Come join us for our 10th anniversary and the best FVF yet!
Tickets go on sale next week (Nov. 7 local, Nov. 8 online). We expect once again to be completely sold out, and we hope you agree that the lineup we’ve been putting together is worthy of your great faith in us.
Gather ‘round, fellow freaks, it’s time for the first names of Freak Valley 2023!
If you’re gonna go, go big. We start our season by announcing that the lords of weirdo crunch riffing themselves, the MELVINS, will play FVF for the first time ever! They mark their 40th anniversary in 2023 and remain some of heavy rock’s most lovable oddities. We’re thrilled to have them and know it will be something special.
It will have been seven years since we last hosted ORANGE GOBLIN – far too long – and we’re bringing the London doom ‘n’ roll kingpins over to play a special ‘Time Travelling Freak Valley Blues’ show to celebrate 25 years since their classic 1998 album, Time Travelling Blues!
Two very special returns for us in KING BUFFALO and SEEDY JEEZUS. Since KB last played in 2019, they’ve released three incredibly special albums in their pandemic trilogy and become a household name among heads in the know. We haven’t seen Seedy Jeezus since 2015, but we can’t wait to welcome Mr. Frumpy and company back once again! Hugs and riffs both will happen.
Joining us for the first time are Wino-fronted doom legends THE OBSESSED in their new four-piece incarnation, Appalachian psychedelic craftsmen PONTIAK, French heavy rockers KOMODOR, and the reunited Belgian progressive psych trio HYPNOS 69!
Speaking of reunions, Sweden’s ASTROQUEEN come to Netphen as part of theirs, and their countrymen in the classically bluesy KAMCHATKA, and the ever-vibing BESVÄRJELSEN will further blur the boundaries between genres as they make it sound so easy to do, both also first-timers at FVF.
Berlin’s EARTH SHIP, featuring Jan and Sabine Oberg (also Grin and Slowshine, etc.), are also set to make their first appearance!
PSYENCE – if you don’t know them, take four minutes and get introduced, but be ready to buy the record after: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_RCDiXuoX8 – come to us from the UK, as part of a contingent that thus far includes the sludgier TUSKAR and righteous up and coming riffers RITUAL KING. Expect that contingent to grow before June.
We’re doing our best as always to bring you the greatest and biggest Freak Valley Festival to-date. Who are you most excited for here? Who do you want to see on our stage? Let us know in the comments and don’t forget to get your tickets for Freak Valley Festival 2023 while you can!
Freak Valley Festival // No Fillers – Just Killers June 8-10, 2023
Posted in Whathaveyou on October 24th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
This is always an exciting time of year, when the next Spring’s festival season in Europe begins to take shape. Between Desertfest Berlin and the same festival brand’s London edition, you can tell a good bit about who’s going to be on tour, and in the case of an act like Church of Misery coming from Japan, maybe even glean some idea of when their album is coming out just by the fact that they’re making the trip.
I have to wonder too if Uncle Acid won’t have their next record out by then — as I recall they were gearing up for a release more than two years ago — and I wouldn’t be surprised in the least if King Buffalo managed to put together at least an EP to take over for the merch booth. Dozer as well will have a record coming if not out by then, and if that doesn’t make you feel warm inside, then I have absolutely nothing for you.
My big question is with whom Ecstatic Vision will be on tour, since there’s some serious potential for package runs. So you see it’s exciting to think of these festivals as the anchors they’ve become — you’ll notice Desertfest Berlin has a new venue to call home — for the touring season. Precisely my kind of fun to see who’s headed where and why, and I hope you share my nerdy enthusiasm as the announcements continue to roll in.
Weekend tickets go on sale Friday. From the fest’s social media:
FIRST BANDS ANNOUNCED FOR 2023 EDITION ⚡️NEW VENUE COLUMBIAHALLE ⚡️ WEEKEND TICKETS ON SALE FRIDAY 28th AT 12PM CET
DESERTFEST BERLIN has announced the first names for its 2023 edition, and is happy to welcome UNCLE ACID & THE DEADBEATS, THE OBSESSED, KING BUFFALO, CHURCH OF MISERY, DOZER, BLOOD CEREMONY, L.A. WITCH, SOMALI YACHT CLUB, GNOD, ECSTATIC VISION, DAILY THOMPSON, GAUPA and PSYCHLONA, with many more acts to be announced soon!
Taking place between May 19 – 21, 2023 will see a venue change from the Arena to Columbiahalle and Columbia Theater, with additional outdoor space & stage.
Weekend tickets for DESERTFEST BERLIN 2023 will be on sale this Friday, October 28th at 12PM CET viawww.desertfest.de
Posted in Radio on September 16th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
I don’t know how many of these posts I’ve done by now. Fewer than actual episodes, the number of which I do keep track. But it always feels a little weird. Yeah, guess what? I think it’s a cool show. Of course I fucking do. I made it. What, I’m going to try to suck?
So hey, this is a pretty good show. You should listen.
In all seriousness, I want to express my thanks to Gimme Metal for allowing me to continue to do this. Their platform has gotten huge in the last few years and they need my ass taking up two hours of precious air time like they need a reminder of traditional radio’s downfall, so it really means something to me that I get to weird out and share music for a new show every two weeks. I can’t even turn my playlists in on time. My voice tracks weren’t submitted until Tuesday! Terrible.
Bottom line though is Gimme doesn’t at all have to let me keep doing a show. In my embarrassing number of years, I’ve seen outside-the-genre interest in heavy rock, psych, doom, sludge, and so on wax and wane, and my experience is that if you’re not all the way in it, you’re eventually going to move on to something else that speaks to you. Nothing wrong with that, of course; it’s how life works. It’s why I’m not catholic. But for a company with their hands in so much other shit to allow someone like me to do my thing in my own way and my own time is pretty god damned rare and viscerally appreciated.
That’s all I’ve got to say about it, except that, again, this show is pretty good.
Thanks if you listen and thanks for reading.
The Obelisk Show airs 5PM Eastern today on the Gimme app or at: http://gimmemetal.com.
Full playlist:
The Obelisk Show – 09.16.22 (VT = voice track)
King Buffalo
Mammoth
Regenerator
DRÖÖG
Stormhatt
DRÖÖG
Slomosa
There is Nothing New Under the Sun
Slomosa
VT
Fu Manchu
Mongoose
California Crossing
Stöner
Space Dude & The Burn
Totally…
Monolord
The Siren of Yirsinia
Your Time to Shine
Corrosion of Conformity
The Door
Wiseblood
Colour Haze
Goldmine
Sacred
Mythic Sunship
Equinox
Light/Flux
Blue Rumble
Brasas
Blue Lightning/Brasas
Solanhum
Basti (Falling into the Natural Realm)
Rostratum
Fogteeth
Delirium Man
Headspace
Electric Wizard
The Chosen Few
Witchcult Today
Alain Johannes
If Morning Comes
Hum
Red Sky Blues
Glowing
Red Sky Blues
VT
Kungens Män
Keeper of the One Key
VA – International Space Station Vol. 1
The Obelisk Show on Gimme Metal airs every Friday 5PM Eastern, with replays Sunday at 7PM Eastern. Next new episode is Sept. 30 (subject to change). Thanks for listening if you do.
Posted in Reviews on September 10th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
Handsome Jack were on when I got in. It had been about three and a half hours of road time to get me to Outer Space Ballroom in Hamden, Connecticut, but I’m well familiar with this particular segment of the I-95 corridor, so it was alright. Dropped The Patient Mrs. and The Pecan off with family, sat for all of 15 minutes, then back in the car to the venue, which is tucked just far enough off the main drag to feel a little out of the way. The kind of place where people can probably tell you about the shit they used to get away with in the parking lot.
Anyhow, Handsome Jack. Band has some vibe for sure. Strengths include blues groove, guitar and bass tone, three-part harmony and that includes a singing drummer, so yeah. A lot going for them, I guess is the bottom line there. They were low-key-rockin’ the joint, and said joint was fairly packed. I didn’t know what to expect — I almost never do anymore; it was easy when nobody ever showed up — and I caught maybe the last 20-25 minutes of it, but that was enough to make me feel like, okay, the music’s on, everything’s alright. That message was well complemented by the last song Handsome Jack played, which was “Everything’s Gonna Be Alright.” I mean, the oceans are gonna rise up and swallow us all, and the world is full of war, rape, and pestilence, but at least the tunes are good. You hold onto what you can.
This was the second night of a just-beginning domestic touring cycle for King Buffalo‘s newly-issued fifth album, Regenerator (review here), and really, the three-piece are also out to support all three LPs in their unofficially-titled ‘pandemic trilogy,’ with 2021’s The Burden of Restlessness (review here) and the subsequent Acheron (review here) no less fresh in mind for not actually being their newest releases anymore. And yeah, I’d seen King Buffalo at Desertfest New York (review here), but that was a whole album ago. In any case, if Regenerator and the promise of a full set — they went about 90 minutes total — weren’t enough to justify the sit-on-ass in Friday traffic on the way north, certainly Dan Reynolds‘ bass in “Mammoth” alone made it worth the trip.
The set drew mostly from the recent LPs, with the title-track, “Mammoth,” and later “Hours” representing Regenerator, “Shadows” — during which someone by the board remembered the lights could flash — and regular-set-finale “Cerberus” taken from Acheron and opener “Silverfish,” “Hebetation” and the penultimate “The Knocks” coming from The Burden of Restlessness. Filled out by “Eta Carinae” from 2020’s Dead Star EP (review here), the slide-guitar-inclusive “Kerosene” from 2016’s debut full-length, Orion (review here), and “Sun Shivers” from its 2018 follow-up, Longing to Be the Mountain (review here), the regular set was largely unfuckwithable, and yes, I mean that.
It’s a very I-know-touring-bands thing to say that the second night of the tour they’re probably still getting their feet under them. And maybe it’s true that after another four or five nights in a row of gigs, King Buffalo will be more on fire than they were, but there was no doubt they delivered, and the crowd was way into it. It was like one of those movies where the actors in the audience are just told to keep cheering. No, I’m not saying it’s a false flag operation, I’m saying the band is unreal. I stood right in front of the stage, could see and hear them feeding off that energy. They owned the pandemic. Defined it in large part for my listening habits and I’m sure for many others as well. They should be and are right to be reaping their due acclaim, and that includes for the Regenerator just arrived.
Of the several times I’ve been lucky enough to see King Buffalo at this point, this was the best to-date. They played with confidence, and I could feel the intensity of Donaldson‘s drums keeping step with the chug of McVay‘s guitar in “Hours” better, Reynolds‘ bass laying one smooth groove after the other to coincide. I’m sure I’ve said this before, but Reynolds is the one holding it together. The band? It’s all three of them. They all have a pivotal role to play. They are all essential personnel in making King Buffalo arguably the best heavy psychedelic rock band in America right now. Part of Reynolds role in that is that groove, and he played like he knew it.
Same could be said of the whole band, too. McVay and Donaldson as well. King Buffalo? They’re a great band. Great. I can’t urge you strongly enough to go see them. They’re better than they know, and they know damn well they’re good. Just watch them. There’s some strut there. Seeing their dynamic as up close as I was — I think I spent most of the set closer to McVay than his bandmates in the middle and on the other side of the stage, respectively — and hearing Reynolds‘ basslines under the guitar solo in “Sun Shivers,” the breadth in “Kerosene” and the precision intensity of the fuck-yes-hammer-it-into-my-god-damn-skull stops at the end of “The Knocks,” there was no mistaking the sense of being in the presence of a band who have arrived. A special, important moment.
30 years ago, King Buffalo, Elder and All Them Witches would all be signed to Atlantic Records and putting out albums that would influence a generation. That industry infrastructure doesn’t exist anymore, and while DIY, semi-DIY and even outright signed-to-label acts don’t have the same kind of marketing power, they’re out there doing it anyway. I could see it in the crowd too. Some younger heads, some older ones, and I think that speaks to the transitional generational moment we’re in. In a couple years, those older heads are gonna keep phasing out. And the younger ones are going to bring friends next time King Buffalo roll through. I hope I’m there to see it.
The encore demanded by the room was received. “Orion” will be in my head for the next week and I have no problem with that, and “Centurion” from 2018’s Repeater EP (review here) was a surprise finish, but worked well enough. I’ll allow that the record is still really new, but at some point, they’re going to have to start closing with “Avalon” from Regenerator. Sorry guys, you don’t get to write a song like that and not stick it at the end of the set. Gotta play fair. Same could be said of “Cerberus” coming after “The Knocks.” Both songs are about the build into the payoff, as a fair amount of King Buffalo‘s work is, but that finish in “The Knocks” is another level. The proverbial hard act to follow.
They head up to Buffalo, New York, next, then pick up the tour on Sept. 16 in Ohio before spending a decent portion of the next two months on the road. I wholeheartedly encourage you to make the effort. They’re a band you need to see and now is the time. That’s it.
[Click play above to stream King Buffalo’s video premiere for ‘Hours’ from their Regenerator LP, out Sept. 2 through the band and Stickman Records in Europe.]
Regenerator is a culmination. As the third in King Buffalo‘s pandemic-era trilogy behind 2021’s Acheron (review here) and the prior The Burden of Restlessness (review here), it caps a narrative of growth and exploration while also offering its own persona in sound and the promise of even further creative evolution on the part of the Rochester, New York, trio. Their movement across these three albums, written together and each captured in a somehow-differing manner — the seven-song/43-minute Regenerator was recorded at their usual writing/rehearsal spot, the Main Street Armory, and adds a new thread to the emergence of guitarist/vocalist Sean McVay (also synth) as a producer, engineer and mixer as well as frontman — is such that King Buffalo‘s sound is likewise able to incorporate hard-hitting heavy prog rife with tension in its chugging and lyrical seethe, and ultra-fluid, colorful and organic acid jams fueled by the chemistry between McVay, bassist Dan Reynolds (also synth) and drummer Scott Donaldson, far-out space rock and more terrestrial songcraft. Patient or urgent, Regenerator, Acheron and The Burden of Restlessness — all culled from a single, tour-less period of writing during covid-19 lockdown in Summer 2020 — demonstrate that even in the lowest of times, art can provide release, escape, comfort, catharsis and perspective.
Consider the interplay of McVay‘s drifting guitar on “Avalon” here, or the way in which the sweeping back and forth of “Mercury” earlier speaks to the ethereal prog of The Burden of Restlessness with a brighter point of view. These songs may have come from the same general time of construction, but the material on Regenerator harnesses a breadth that even for King Buffalo feels new no matter how it might draw from what they’ve done before. The leadoff title-track — longest inclusion at 9:38 (immediate points) and a bookend with closer “Firmament” (9:16) — throws open the doors of expectation, fading in on a line of ambient keys that become the preface to what seems like a steady-enough-for-them procession through a verse and a few wah-drenched leads and instead departs those structural confines for an undulating and animated jam.
“Regenerator” is peppered with McVay‘s nuanced soloing, pushed through by Donaldson‘s drums, and held together by Reynolds‘ bass in a way that is a classic power trio dynamic and thoroughly King Buffalo‘s own as they shimmer into fifth-album maturity in the entirely instrumental second half of the song, hypnotically jamming so as to carry the mood over into the subsequent pairing of “Mercury” (4:30) and “Hours” (4:57), two shorter pieces, which one might argue for as the most straight-ahead on the record, but ultimately present their own intentions, as “Mercury” converges lightly anxious noodling with more surging choruses, flowing into “Hours,” which careens through its own kosmiche temporal dimensionality, the depth of mix allowing each instrument its place while manifesting the sense of forward-going of the whole.
Like much of what surrounds, it makes its not-insignificant momentum a part of the greater atmosphere, Regenerator seeming to reach out to new ground in melding prog and psych, structured heavy rock songcraft and more open jamming — a keys-and-drums (maybe that’s guitar) break in the middle of “Hours” bringing around a satisfying resurgence before an instrumental return to a modified version of the verse rounds out, subtly reaffirming the plotted nature that underlies all but the most willfully out-there King Buffalo jams. That is to say, they’re a band with rules until they decide to break them.
So much the better, since “Interlude” seems to do precisely that. With a guitar figure at its core that reminds of some of the band’s shared stylistic space with All Them Witches — whose Ben McLeod produced 2018’s Longing to Be the Mountain (review here) — it is also a showcase for McVay vocally, volume swelling and receding behind him as he quietly but confidently sings through subdued lines, more in their presentation than the title of the song might lead one to believe, but something that on, say, the synthy interlude “Ecliptic” from 2020’s Dead Star EP (review here), the group weren’t yet so bold as to attempt. Always changing, persistent in their evolution.
And at the close of the vinyl’s side A, “Interlude” further serves to set up the masterful execution of the final three tracks of Regenerator, the six-minute pair of “Mammoth” and “Avalon” and the aforementioned nine-minute finale, “Firmament,” a title that’s suitably evocative of both celestial and foundational premises. In these songs, King Buffalo effectively summarize the movement that’s taken place over the last year-plus as The Burden of Restlessness has given way to Acheron and Regenerator, encapsulate the band they’ve become and keep their eyes focused on their future. In the 21 minutes of Regenerator‘s side B, King Buffalo are more progressive, richer and more realized in their sound than they’ve ever been. It begins as “Mammoth” unfurls with sway and swing toward the vocal-driven-but-sans-lyrics ending that inevitably comes to define the entire song.
This is clear evidence of McVay‘s burgeoning stage and studio presence as someone who is as much vocalist/guitarist as guitarist/vocalist, and is soon enough confirmed by the layered harmonies of “Avalon,” the psych aspects of which feel directly linked to Acheron for more than the similar verbiage, but are duly broadened in scope to match the moment of arrival that stands for all three records as much as this one alone. I don’t know if that’s hyperbole or not and I don’t care. If this is King Buffalo in 2022, and the obvious message is that it is, then they are the most essential band under 40 in the American heavy underground.
They have put in the work to become so on every level, whether that’s pushing themselves stylistically and physically as players to grow and grow together, or touring and handling the business management realities of being a full-time group. “Firmament” closes Regenerator with a structure not so different from its counterpart title-track back at the beginning, but the soft-guitar/vulnerable-vocal intro nonetheless is a standout moment before a thicker and finally more driving shove takes hold with the entry of Donaldson and Reynolds. The hook, “I have become one with the (great eternal blue) sky/Everything’s one/Made new by the sun (firmament’s eye),” is likewise meditative and memorable, clever in its rhyme swap, and true to an ongoing thread in McVay‘s lyrics of ethereal communion with the natural world. Delivered twice in succession — the lines slightly changed as indicated by the parentheses — it leads to a telltale chug that acts as dogwhistle to let the audience know there’s no coming back from where they’re going next.
“Firmament” indeed speaks of heavens in its instrumentalist drift and recalls restlessness in its still-vibrant repetitions. A current of synth running alongside, the guitar weaves into and out of solos while Reynolds punches out highlight bass work, and at 8:02, the pace of the snare picks up to signal the change to the last stage of the build. It is not overblown, or hackneyed, or telegraphed, but its gallop is vital and its cold finish completes the statement of Regenerator so as to lay claim to the entirety of King Buffalo‘s past to this point as a launchpad for what they might do next. Five full-lengths in six years, plus various EPs and other recordings, unflinching tour-born chemistry, and so on, and their potential still seems to be among their greatest assets as they close this trilogy and invariably continue to progress. Regenerator is beautiful, and complete.
King Buffalo on tour
UK/EU 7/21 London, UK @ Oslo 7/22 Nijmegen, NL @ Valkhof Festival 7/23 Lille, FR @ THE BLACK LAB 7/24 Selestat, FR @ Rock Your Brain fest 7/25 Munich, DE @ Free & Easy 7/27 Dresden, DE @Chemiefabrik 7/26 Passau, DE @ Zauberberg 7/28 Herzberg, DE @ Herzberg Festival 7/29 Hamburg, DE @ Lazy Bones Festival 7/30 Michelau, DE @ Rock Im Wald 7/31 Berlin, DE @ Lido 8/2 Warsaw, POL @ Hydrozagadka 8/3 Krakow, POL @ Klub Alchemia 8/4 Vienna, AT @ Arena 8/5 Waldhausen, AT @ Lake On Fire 8/6 Beelen, DE @ Krach Am Bach 8/8 Karlsruhe, DE @ P8 8/9 Zurich, CH @ Mascotte 8/10 Bruson, CH @ PALP Festival 8/11 Moledo, POR @ Sonic Blast Festival 8/12 Kortrijk, BE @ Alcatraz Festival 8/13 Horsens, DK @ JAILBREAK
US/Canada 9/8 Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground 9/9 Hamden, CT @ Space Ballroom 9/10 Buffalo, NY @ Town Ballroom 9/16 Columbus, OH @ A&R Music Bar 9/17 Cincinnati, OH @ Madison Live 9/18 Louisville, KY @ Zanzabar 9/20 Nashville, TN @ Exit/In 9/22 Dallas, TX @ Club Dada 9/23 Austin, TX @ Antones 9/24 Houston, TX @ White Oak 9/25 New Orleans, LA @ Gasa Gasa 9/27 Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade 9/28 Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle 9/29 Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar 9/30 Philadelphia, PA @ First Unitarian Church 10/1 Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg 10/13 Toronto, ON @ Velvet Underground 10/14 Ottawa, ON @ Club SAW 10/15 Montreal, QC @ Bar Le Ritz 10/25 Bloomington, IL @ Nightshop 10/26 Kansas City, MO @ Recordbar 10/28 Albuquerque, NM @ Launchpad 10/29 Phoenix, AZ @ Rebel Lounge 10/31 San Diego, CA @ Soda Bar 11/1 Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram 11/2 San Francisco, CA @ The Chapel 11/4 Seattle, WA @ Neumos 11/5 Vancouver, BC @ Rickshaw 11/7 Portland, OR @ Douglas Fir Lounge 11/8 Boise, ID @ The Olympic 11/9 Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge 11/11 Denver, CO @ Gothic Theatre 11/12 Fort Collins, CO @ Aggie Theatre 11/14 Omaha, NE @ Slowdown Front Room 11/15 Minneapolis, MN @ Fine Line 11/16 Madison, WI @ High Noon 11/17 Chicago, IL @ Sleeping Village 11/18 Chicago, IL @ Sleeping Village 11/19 Grand Rapids, MI @ The Stache
Posted in Whathaveyou on June 6th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
Rochester, New York, heavy psychedelic rock King Buffalo are hitting the point where you’re going to start hearing bands coming up working under their influence. You already can somewhat, but that’s not going to stop in the next few years. They’ll release the third-of-three in their pandemic trilogy, titled Regenerator, on Sept. 2 through themselves in the US and the venerable Stickman Records in Europe. It arrives as the follow-up to two of 2021’s best albums in Acheron (review here) and the prior The Burden of Restlessness (review here), and though I wrote the press release below, let me reiterate that I sincerely believe King Buffalo are one of the most crucial bands right now in the American heavy underground. I would put them on tour, US and Europe, with Elephant Tree from London and tell them both to keep going until they’re 50.
Alas, nobody puts me in charge of that kind of thing and probably for good reason. Regenerator is, however, a fitting summation of King Buffalo‘s prog-edged psychedelia, and you can see below that they’re ready to get out and tell everyone about it one head at a time.
Album announcement follows here, from my keyboard to the PR wire and back again:
KING BUFFALO ANNOUNCE ‘REGENERATOR’ TO BE RELEASED SEPTEMBER 2ND & TOUR DATES
Rochester, New York-based trio King Buffalo will issue their fifth full-length, Regenerator, on Sept. 2, 2022, as a self-release in North America and through Stickman Records in Europe. Preorders will be available on June 10 via http://kingbuffalo.bigcartel.com.
Written and recorded by the band with mixing and engineering by guitarist/vocalist Sean McVay and mastering by Bernie Matthews, the seven-song outing is the third in King Buffalo’s stated ‘pandemic trilogy,’ following Two of 2021’s Best Albums in The Burden of Restlessness and Acheron.
Both of those albums – like 2018’s Longing to Be the Mountain, 2016’s debut, Orion, and the various EPs and other offerings they’ve made over the last eight years – made bold declarations about who King Buffalo are as a band, and Regenerator is no different. As McVay, bassist/synthesist Dan Reynolds and drummer Scott Donaldson continue to explore the outer reaches of modern psychedelic songcraft, melding progressive rhythms, drifting atmospheres and accompanying surges of electricity, the new collection only further establishes them as one of the brightest lights shining in underground rock today.
As the third of three, Regenerator seems inherently to tie together the two LPs most immediately before it, and as King Buffalo unfold the leadoff title-track across nine and half minutes, it becomes clear just how truly they have marked out their own sonic presence. The later melodic highlight “Mammoth” – with McVay’s most confident vocal yet – shimmers with hope that somehow doesn’t come across as desperate, and as “Hours” engages classic space rock and the closing “Firmament” summarizes the first, second and third series installments, the final chapter of this trilogy becomes the essential cornerstone of King Buffalo’s work to-date.
The band returned to live activity late last year, touring alongside Clutch and more recently a full North American spring tour with Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats. By the time Regenerator arrives, they will have completed a UK and European headlining tour with festival appearances in Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland, Portugal, Belgium and Denmark.
Regenerator was written by King Buffalo in Rochester, NY, at the Main Street Armory in 2021. Produced, engineered and mixed by Sean McVay, and mastered by Bernie Matthews. The artwork was created by Mike Del Rosario and the album layout by Scott Donaldson.
7/14 Wiesbaden, DE @ Schlachthof 7/15 Riegsee, DE @ Raut Oak Festival 7/16 Erfurt, DE @ Stoned from the Underground 7/17 Deventer, NL @ Burgerweeshuis 7/19 Manchester, UK @ Rebellion 7/20 Bristol, UK @ The Exchange 7/21 London, UK @ Oslo 7/22 Nijmegen, NL @ Valkhof Festival 7/23 Lille, FR @ THE BLACK LAB 7/24 Selestat, FR @ Rock Your Brain fest 7/25 Munich, DE @ Free & Easy Festival 7/27 Dresden, DE @Chemiefabrik 7/28 Herzberg, DE @ Burg Herzberg Festival 7/29 Hamburg, DE @ Lazy Bones Festival 7/30 Michelau, DE @ Rock Im Wald 7/31 Berlin, DE @ Lido 8/2 Warschau, POL @ Hydrozagadka 8/3 Krakau, POL @ Klub Alchemia 8/4 Vienna, AT @ Arena 8/5 Waldhausen, AT @ Lake On Fire 8/6 Beelen, DE @ Krach Am Bach 8/9 Zurich, CH @ Mascotte 8/10 Bruson, CH @ PALP Festival 8/11 Moledo, POR @ Sonic Blast Festival 8/12 Kortrijk, BE @ Alcatraz Festival 8/13 Copenhagen, DK @ Jailbreak Festival
9/16 Columbus, OH @ A&R Music Bar 9/17 Cincinnati, OH @ Madison Live 9/18 Louisville, KY @ Zanzabar 9/20 Nashville, TN @ Exit/In 9/22 Dallas, TX @ Club Dada 9/23 Austin, TX @ Antones 9/24 Houston, TX @ White Oak 9/25 New Orleans, LA @ Gasa Gasa 9/27 Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade 9/28 Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle 9/29 Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar 9/30 Philadelphia, PA @ First Unitarian Church 10/1 Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
10/13 Toronto, ON @ Velvet Underground 10/14 Ottawa, ON @ Club SAW 10/15 Montreal, QC @ Bar Le Ritz
10/26 Kansas City, MO @ Record Bar 10/28 Albuquerque, NM @ Launchpad 10/29 Phoenix, AZ @ Rebel Lounge 10/31 San Diego, CA @ Soda Bar 11/1 Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram 11/2 San Francisco, CA @ The Chapel 11/4 Seattle, WA @ Neumos 11/5 Vancouver, BC @ Rickshaw 11/7 Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom 11/8 Boise, ID @ Neurolux 11/9 Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge 11/11 Denver, CO @ Gothic Theatre 11/12 Fort Collins, CO @ Aggie Theatre 11/15 Minneapolis, MN @ Fine Line 11/16 Madison, WI @ High Noon 11/17 Chicago, IL @ Sleeping Village 11/18 Chicago, IL @ Sleeping Village 11/19 Detroit, MI @ Magic Stick
