There’s always something warm and fuzzy about a homecoming show. For a band like Lemuria, whose indie-pop/punk tendencies have won them a dedicated core following at home and a burgeoning popularity nationwide, the feeling must be exceedingly sweet. The Buffalo-based three piece has, since forming in 2004, released several albums and EP’s, toured the country several times over, and earned a reputation for their passionate live presence. I caught the band last January, at the release show for their last full-length Get Better, and it was an chaotically uplifting event. Drawing from punk and indie mainstays Superchunk and Jawbreaker, the…
Author: FrankieJo
I showed up late to the bandwagon on Tortoise. A band that is nearing its 20th birthday, I discovered them several months ago after realizing the critical acclaim and intense passion they had garnered over such a long career. After mentioning how good I thought they were to my roommate, he rolled his eyes like a parent watching their kid discover that fire burns. As many times as he could tell me, I just had to figure it out for myself. This year, Tortoise is releasing what will be their sixth studio album, and their first in five years, as…
I first got into Igor Stravinsky through mid-80’s hardcore punk. One of my favorite bands in high school, Rites of Spring, was named after the Stravinsky piece that first premiered in 1913. After a little research, I found a small section of it that sucked me in. I had never heard such intense, captivating, violent composition in classical music before, and I was instantly a fan. In all honesty, you could almost hear the similarity between such purportedly different genres of punk and classical; heavy, pugilistic melodies and dissonances swirling around sharp polyrythms, building and falling in ways people had…
I pass by the Meating Place on Grant Street every Saturday on my way to Guercio’s (for the last 3 years of my life in Buffalo). The side of the brick building advertises their custom sausage, and for some reason I assumed it was a wholesale butcher. Then one day Queenseyes told me that it was open to the public and stocked full of typical grocery supplies as well as some really unique food items. I wandered in one Saturday to check out the shelves of The Meating Place, and walked away with a grocery sack full of fresh, well-priced produce, including a…