2010 Progress Report: Avi Buffalo record release

For the past year or so I've given a good deal of love to LA's (well, technically Long Beach's) favorite youngsters, quirky pop quartet Avi Buffalo. So I was way excited when they got signed to SubPop and finally recorded a solid album's worth of songs.

I remember seeing them at the Echo in July 2009 and being floored at how much they'd improved from just a few months previous. I took a friend from out of town to that show and was a little concerned about how she'd enjoy it, but once they took the stage I knew that was obviously not going to be an issue. They were so poised and awesome, and as I darted back and forth trying to get some good shots in I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

The long-awaited Avi Buffalo dropped this week and it's grown on me to the point where I'll have "Summer Cum" or "Remember Last Time" stuck in my head after the morning commute, and then it'll play on KCRW in my boss's office and I can't escape it (nor do I want to, though). These are songs that sit on the front porch with you with a glass of lemonade or a beer in the afternoon; late spring/early summer was the perfect time for this album to come out. They're unassuming and a little sweet, but intricate when you listen for all the details -- especially the words. When I first heard the opening lines to "Where's Your Dirty Mind" I knew this was a band to take seriously. And then in the chorus they were talking about wanting to die, and not wanting to die, but not in the really-bad-poetry way you'd expect from high schoolers. But I may've found a new favorite line in the ballad/borderline classic rock tune "Jessica": "I can't tell when something's real/nobody tells me how they feel/it's always right beneath my nose/and if that's just the way it goes/someone won't be there when you fall."

Avi's plaintive falsetto brings the charm and quirk quotient, and vocalist/keyboardist Rebecca Coleman steps to the forefront for the first time in "one last," a folky ditty that takes the band out of their comfort zone. other highlights include the whimsical "Summer Cum,'' (probably the best example of the lemonade-on-the-porch-in-summer aesthetic) and my absolute old favorite "What's In It For."

I love that there's no lead/rhythm guitar dynamic, and that Avi never just strums his way through a song. Almost everything he plays is a lead line to complement the vocals, and Coleman, bassist Arin Fazio and drummer Sheridan Riley round out the tunes without ever stepping on each other's parts. Check out the end of "Remember Last Time" to hear a band that knows how to work together, not to mention write a killer outro.



I'm going to insist you head to the not yet sold out album release party at the Troubadour this Saturday if you're in Los Angeles. It's a great venue, and this event is a long time coming! (if you couldn't already tell by now) I'm sure there'll be lots of locals who are stoked on this band's big day. Not to mention all 4 are just super sweet people who've paid their dues and deserve every bit of what's coming their way -- which actually includes some European tour dates in May and then summer dates with Modest Mouse and Blitzen Trapper.

Though this won't be the last you hear from me on Avi Buffalo, for now I leave you with a couple tunes from the new album:

"Remember Last Time"
"What's In It For"


Avi Buffalo on the road:

May 01 Troubadour, Hollywood, CA (record release show)
May 30 Sasquatch! Festival, Gorge, WA
Jul 01 Royal Oak Theater (MI), Royal Oak, MI *
Jul 02 Royal Oak Theater (MI), Royal Oak, MI *
Jul 03 Summerfest (WI), Milwaukee, WI *
Jul 06 Crossroads, Kansas City, MO *
Jul 08 Twlight Concert Series, Salt Lake City, UT *
Jul 23 Crystal Ballroom, Portland, OR $
Jul 27 First Avenue, Minneapolis, MN $
Jul 28 Turner Hall, Milwaukee, WI $
Jul 30 Pier 17 / South Street Seaport (NY), New York, NY ^
Aug 04 Majestic Theater (MI), Detroit, MI $
Aug 05 Vogue, The, Indianapolis, IN $
Sep 04 All Tomorrows Parties - NY, Monticello, NY

* w/ Modest Mouse
$ w/ Blitzen Trapper
^ w/ Neon Indian

2010 Progress Report: Beach House, Teen Dream

Welcome to the third installment of 2010 Progress Report -- thus far I've been talking up my favorite singles, but here I'm going to step off the flag and mention my favorite album of the year so far.

About 6 months ago I had no idea who Beach House was; I'd only heard the song "Gila" on a mixtape from a friend with no printed tracklist, so I didn't even know I was listening to them. I passed up the chance to see them open for Grizzly Bear in LA and went to the Noah and the Whale show instead (whose album The First Day of Spring was one of my top albums of 2009).

When the Baltimore, MD duo released the first single from this year's Teen Dream, "Norway," I wasn't totally convinced, but still curious so I bought the rest of the record. It was like going on a first date with someone and telling your friends it was sort of eh, but you wouldn't mind seeing them again if they asked. Then you go on a second and third date, and then a fourth date, and you realize they're kinda deep and smart and fragile and BAM! you start writing their name in hearts all over the post-Its in your cubicle.

I haven't been able to put this one down. There are some weeks I listen to it every day. Teen Dream is one of the rare albums I can get through without skipping more than once or twice, and it's versatile, too -- makes for a great daytime listen on half-sunny, not quite bright days, and it's good for city driving late at night. Roll the windows up and you feel like you're sitting with Victoria LeGrand, she's only singing for you. I think I read an interview once where she said these were supposed to be sultry, baby-makin' songs. Well hey, you can try that, too.

There are only 10 songs on the album, and unlike 2006's Beach House and 2008's Devotion (two other albums that deserve some words as well; post forthcoming) they do sometimes stray from the languid, downtempo "dream pop" that the band has become known (and sometimes condemned) for. The other day a co-worker friend told me he'd tried to get through some without wanting to kill himself....a fair assessment, sure, but there's so much beauty in this music -- the super simple drum machine beats paired with Alex Scally's guitar lines and the incessant organ haze, topped off by LeGrand's low, Nico-esque vocals. I'd love to hear a cover of VU's "Femme Fatale" from these guys.

**Looks like we're not allowed to link to Beach House songs, so check out this video of "Walk In The Park" from Pitchfork TV.





Bonus: Go here to watch a video of the P.S. 22 chorus singing "Zebra." Pretty awesome.

2010 Progress Report: Best Coast Debuts Official Video for "When I'm With You"

Next up in my series of top singles of the year (so far) is Best Coast's "When I'm With You," which will drop with their debut album later this year. I've previously mentioned them on this here blog, but if you're at all interested in knowing more about them you can check out an interview I did with lead singer Beth Consentino over at Groupee.com.

They just released the official video for "When I'm With You" last week; previously the only video available was the song set to some footage from the movie Les Demoiselles de Rochefort. This new video is somewhat cinematic in its own right -- comes complete with a beginning, middle and end, and it's just charming, to say the least.

If you live on the West Coast you'll appreciate the idea of Ronald McDonald enjoying a burger from In-N-Out. If you live on the East Coast you'll be jealous of guitarist Bobb Bruno, Cosentino and her beau lounging in the sun and surf. And if you're a human being with a sense of humor you'll just love this video.

2010 Progress Report - The Morning Benders, "Excuses"

Over the next couple weeks I'm going to be highlighting some of my top singles of the year, sort of a 2010 progress report card.

Today's pick comes from Berkeley, CA's The Morning Benders, who just released their sophomore effort Big Echo back in March. The track "Excuses" is the only one that's really stuck with me so far, but it's stuck with me in a big way. Chris Chu's soaring lead melody shows off his vocal chops, and I love the epic strings and rolling drums, and the vocal breakdown that comes halfway through the song.

When I saw them at the Troubadour a few weeks ago an overzealous fan came in some beats too early on the "da-da-da-da-da-da-dum"s, but it only highlighted the communal catharsis that this song brings. To me it was always about losing someone you were in love with but would never stop loving; if you watch the very short interview with Chu at the beginning of the video you'll hear his actual intentions.

To get the full effect:

1) download and listen to the song first
2) then check out the video, which is the band's Yours Truly session performance of "Excuses" with an army of their musician friends up north, including Chris Owens of Girls and John Vanderslice.

"Excuses" [mp3]