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Buffalo Killers

Heavy Reverie

Written by: BV on 23/05/2014 21:20:11

I remember reviewing Buffalo Killers’ 2012 outing, ”Dig. Sow. Love. Grow.”, with a sense of peculiar interest that had me hinting that this band might indeed become quite great one day as they displayed a sort of soothing blend of balladry and fuzzed-up grooves. Returning here in 2014 with “Heavy Reverie” I find myself doubting my initial hinting. Granted, Buffalo Killers still seem to master the dusty grooves and they do, as one would expect them to, include some ballads as well – corny as they then come off (but we’ll get to that later).

Opening with “Poisonberry Tide”, Buffalo Killers seem intent on displaying their best riffs and grooves as early on as humanly possible. “Poisonberry Tide” is infectious – I’ll give them that. However, as time progresses the track simply leans too much on a sound so associated with their 2012 outing that I have to wonder if they have actually evolved at all since that very outing. Predictable as it turned out to be, I’ll still admit that the vocal work on “Poisonberry Tide” is impeccable with the higher notes ringing beautifully in the otherwise crunchy soundscape.

With “This Girl Has Grown” Buffalo Killers take a dive into the more ballad-oriented parts of their repertoire without compromising on their dusty riffing. The track sadly never really catches my ear as it has so little to it that really stands out. What made “Dig. Sow. Love. Grow.” So great was the clear dynamic changes – from the crunchy grooves over the impeccably corny, yet consistently memorable ballads like the exceptionally great “Hey Girl”. “This Girl Has Grown” never really stands out, but it still isn’t a bad track per se – just rather bland.

Rather bland is, unfortunately, the general impression I seem to get off “Heavy Reverie”. Perhaps I have been taking on this album with too high expectations but it would seem that the album near-constantly underwhelms me when I compare it to that of “Dig. Sow. Love. Grow.” – Had “Heavy Reverie” preceded it, the case might be surprisingly different. But as it seems now, great tracks like “Sandbox” and “Louder Than Your Lips” consistently get drowned out by the far more mediocre tracks of the album like “Grape Peel (How I Feel)”.

I had honestly expected more, and perhaps that was my own fault. Most songs on the album are still quite solid and worthy of a few listens, but generally this album lies far away from what I believe made “Dig. Sow. Love. Grow.” such a raving success to me.

Download: Poisonberry Tide, Shake, Sandbox
For The Fans Of: The Black Crowes, The Steepwater Band, Howlin Rain
Listen: facebook.com

Release date 13.05.2014
Sun Pedal Recordings