(EDITOR’S NOTE — Buffalo artist Ian McCuen will drop their new album on Friday titled ‘ After I Descend from the Sky, Before I Return to the Dirt, ’ an extraordinary and herculean work comprised of 24 songs several years in the making. Mesmerizing in its sound, intricately written and replete with a range of fascinating instrumentation — all of which have become hallmarks of Ian’s work — the new LP marks the conclusion of a four-album series, the writing for which began a d

Dolly Sods (Photo by Greg McClure @asceneifound ) Buffalo shoegaze band Dolly Sods — which had been on hiatus while its members lived across the state from one another — has reunited and is making music once again.   The regrouped band, in fact, is marking its return to the Buffalo scene with a video release today in support of its excellent new single, ‘Good Old Neon.’ Shot and edited by James Werick ( @soulmanatees ), you can watch the video HERE as well as at the bottom

(EDITOR’S NOTE — There are some artists on the Buffalo scene who create at such a rapid pace that attempting to keep up with their output is like pushing water uphill with a rake. Many of these folks are not only prolific, but their output is also varied, spanning a range of mediums and roles. Bran Schlia is one of those artists. A musician, filmmaker, engineer/producer, ZUZU Radio (podcast host) and founder of Steak and Cake Records , Bran’s latest addition to his expansive

(EDITOR’S NOTE — For Sal Mastrocola, the mastermind behind hardcore/emo project Gatto Black , the band’s new LP ‘ Sky is Blue ’ is more than just an album. It is quite literally a liberation. Sal Mastrocola is finally free — free from the religious and culturally imposed shame that has haunted him for decades, and free — for the first time in his life — to truly be himself. ‘Sky is Blue’ chronicles Mastrocola’s struggle with confronting and accepting his sexuality, a struggle

Gatto Black , the hardcore/emo project of Buffalo musician Sal Mastrocola , has dropped its debut LP ‘ Sky is Blue . ’ This is a powerful, highly personal and extremely visceral record — one on which Mastrocola courageously lays himself bare. Several years — if not a lifetime in the making — Mastrocola chronicles through his art his struggle with coming to terms with his sexuality — a difficult journey exacerbated by the shame which the Catholic Church and society at large im

Tar Bucket at Area 54 ( Photo by Brandon Finnegan ) Tar Bucket’s Anthony Tanevski said he didn’t go about fixing any theme to the band’s first full-length album. But as he listened to it, he realized each song talked about “struggle, self-destruction and people being terrible to each other.”   “It just immediately clicked in my head,” Tanevski said. “This is ‘Human Nature.’”   Tar Bucket is a two-piece band comprised of drummer Tony P. Worrell and Tanevski on vocals and guit

Halloween may be the season of blood and guts, but in Buffalo the Spooky Season this year also marks the return of Spud & Guts — or to be more exact, ‘Spud & Guts 3 — A Nietzsche’s Halloween Spectacular.’   Founded by Demyia Browning — the popular Buffalo musician who also performs as ‘spud’ — this night of ‘culture and community’ returns to the renowned Allentown music venue this Friday Oct. 24 from 8 p.m (doors) to 2 a.m.   “It's music, visual art, theatre, drag, film, and

Rachelle Toarmino ( Photo provided ) (EDITOR’S NOTE — Rachelle Toarmino is an award-winning poet from Niagara Falls whose latest book, ‘Hell Yeah’ — (which you can order HERE ) — is a collection of poems published by Third Man Books. She is also the author of ‘That Ex’ (2020), as well as several chapbooks including ‘My Science,’ for which she won the 2024 Sixth Finch Chapbook Contest. Her work has appeared in The American Poetry Review, Bennington Review, Literary Hub, Poets.

Twenty-seven years after it was recorded, a live performance from the band, birddog — led by Buffalo resident and musician Bill Santen — has been released.   ‘Live at the Hotel Monte Vista’ — available now on Bandcamp HERE — was recorded in 1998 in Flagstaff, Ariz., sometime during the latter half of a U.S. tour before drummer Glenn Kotche left to play with Wilco, and only shortly after tour-mate, Elliott Smith, was nominated for an Oscar for Best Original Song.   Santen,

The making of any album is a massive undertaking. The writing, arrangement, rehearsal, recording, takes and re-takes, mixing and...

Angel Rivera ( Photo by Matt Smith ) Chances are if you’ve been a fan of Buffalo’s punk scene — whether now or at any time over the past...

Science Man ( Photo Matt Smith/1120 Press ) With October starting and the summer’s outdoor show scene winding down, it’s once again time...

Urge Surfer ( Photo by Jacqueline Csiga ) In listening to the new EP ‘ MISNOMERS ’ by the moody electro-synth pop duo Urge Surfer — the...

Dallas Taylor ( Photo by Yves-Richard Blanc ) The poet Dallas Taylor doesn’t like snow. While he’s lived in Buffalo all his life, he’s...

Abalone ( Photo by Heather Chrosniak ) (EDITOR’S NOTE — To say 2020 was a trying time for Buffalo musician Adam Putzer would be a gross...

PRXFET ( Photo provided ) Nearly every month, at various locales across the city such as Amy’s Place, there’s a special night set aside...

“I wanna live until I die, don’t think there is another side…” — ‘Antipathy’ (Soul Butchers)  There’s something downright encouraging...

Jacob Smolinski, aka Wylie Something' ( Photos by Bailey Gawley ) “A picture or a thousand words I got some time I need the work Moments...

Sostre! ( Photo by Angelo Guglielmo ) Storming with full force onto the city’s scene in mid-June with a packed first show at Amy’s...

deb. (Photo and Art by Matt Sledz ) ‘So sick of running with these ankle weights The broken record repeats … So tired of making all...