Fast-Rising & Full-Throttle, Sostre! Explodes on the Buffalo Scene
- Benjamin Joe and Matt Smith
- 10 hours ago
- 4 min read
Storming with full force onto the city’s scene in mid-June with a packed first show at Amy’s Place, the surging Buffalo screamo band Sostre! has been making waves all summer.
Named after Martin Sostre — the renowned Black revolutionary and political prisoner who lived in Buffalo and died in 2015 — the band has been gigging relentlessly, playing shows from western and central New York to Canada.
And earlier this month, the group dropped its debut release, a four-track EP titled, ‘Accessory to the Murder of My Best Friend.’
“We were trying to go for more of a classic screamo — ‘skramz’ if you want to say — but definitely screamo, and less hardcore; more screamo adjacent,” said the band’s vocalist Teagan Finnegan, who added her favorite track on the release is ‘Almost Breaking and Entering.’
Also made up of members Sam Blum on bass, Mason Cole on guitar, and AJ Carbone on drums, Sostre! started practicing together in January but then lost its original lead singer. Afterward, Finnegan was eventually — and unexpectedly — approached, a happening that she characterized as “crazy” given that she not only had zero experience fronting a band but had no prior musical experience.
“March was my first time doing vocals of any kind,” she said.
“Over the past few years, I've probably said ‘hi’ to Teagan at shows more times than we've even held conversations to this day as bandmates,” said Carbone. “She's someone I had known about for so long just by nature of being in the scene, but it never really dawned on me to ask about being in a band. Kids don't really share vocal covers anymore like they do with instruments, so finding anyone willing to do vocals — (especially screamo vocals) — felt bleak.
“It honestly came down to wearing your favorite bands on your sleeve. I remember (Teagan) bought a Saetia shirt off me when we already had our vocalist position covered,” Carbone added. “By the time that slot was open again, I remember being in a conversation with her during the Torture show at Amvets. She was wearing the Chiodos reunion tour hoodie, the zip-up one with just the text on it. I noticed that, too, and it was only a few more days later when I decided to reach out, asking if she wanted to do vocals.”
With all the pieces finally in place, Sostre! played its first show on a sweltering night back on June 17 before a jam-packed crowd.
“The energy of that first show was worth everything it took to get our band off the ground,” said Carbone. “It was the most humid and sweaty Amy's Place show I've ever been to, but you could tell that everyone was so excited to be there that it didn't matter. A lot was planned that didn't happen, but by now I feel like part of the charm was how rushed it all felt — like it needed to happen faster than we could've anticipated.”
Finnegan agreed.
“I had never been so nervous about something in my entire life. It was so hot. I was sweating. I was so nervous that I was almost dropping the mic,” she recalled. “Now I’ve warmed up to (performing), but I still get nervous. I get nervous about everything; but being up there and knowing there are people who care about what I’m making, and (care) about the people I’m working with who have worked so hard, it’s just worth it.”
Since then, Sostre! has been full throttle, playing a spate of shows over the past month around Buffalo, as well as Syracuse, Rochester and Kitchener, Ontario. They also dropped a surprise set in late June at Hickory Urban Sanctuary, which can be seen HERE.
“We’ve just moved so fast, and I’m pretty grateful for it,” said Finnegan, who’s been attending shows in Buffalo since she was 13 — introduced to the scene, in part, by her father, Brandon, a videographer who has documented the area’s hardcore scene for decades through his YouTube channel @lakeeriemonster.
As summer draws to a close, the band is taking some time from playing shows to write new music. In the meantime, the band’s members said they’re grateful for the wide-spread support Sostre! has received these past few months during the group’s infancy.
“It’s very cool to see people actually receive art in such a way,” said Finnegan. “Just seeing people enjoy stuff that you’ve spent time making is really fucking cool.”
“I couldn't be happier,” Carbone said. “It was only a few months back when our little Buffalo crowd felt like we were without any screamo scene of our own; but that totally flipped on its head by starting this band. Super honored to have played with emos from afar, like: I Promised The World, Life, Jingwei, Emma Goldman, Tenue, amorebeautifulversionofyou, Spear of Cassius, Boxcutter, Silent Spring, flora in silence, and DepopulateMontana. Not to mention our growing WNY scene, having played with Calicuzns, Feast of Love, Debatably Stable, foricouldonlydream, and Hospital X Games.
“It's exciting to think about what the future holds,” Carbone added. “All four of us know there is much more to come as we take a short Fall show break to write new songs. Looking back, it seemed like the exact summer Buffalo needed for 2025.”
Sostre! will be returning to the stage this October, when the band plays Jean Scene Fest III 2025, the final showcase of Pittsburgh's own emo/screamo mini-fest, on October 17-18.