New York – Avi Buffalo is a four-piece indie act out of Long Beach, California, founded by Avi Zahner-Isenberg back when the singer-songwriter and guitar slinger was but 19 years old. Now 23, Avi Buffalo is about to resurface with an arsenal of fully realized alt experimentalism that’s solid enough to cement this act in the post-ought annals.
The band, in its current incarnation, is Zahner-Isenberg, Sheridan Riley, Doug Brown and Anthony Vezirian. Avi Buffalo’s self-titled debut surfaced in 2010 via Sub Pop, the renowned Washington State-based label that is also home to alt giants like Beach House, The Head And The Heart, The Ruby Suns and Fleet Foxes. In the weeks and months that followed Avi Buffalo, publications gushed praise, among them NME, The AV Club, Pitchfork and the BBC. The LP’s single, “What’s It In For,” earned the group a slot at SXSW, and positioned them as Modest Mouse’s opener later that year.
With nothing to bait fans save 2011′s EP “How Come/Good I’m Wishing,” Avi Buffalo is about to grace us with another full-length endeavor. The record, At Best Cuckold, drops September 9, and the finished product is so enchantingly polished that we can almost excuse the band for playing hard to get.
To be fair, Zahner-Isenberg was hard at work in the interim between his first and forthcoming LPs. In 2013, he began producing various projects, including production work for Kevin Lithrow and Arjuna Genome. Though the writing of At Best Cuckold officially began last year, Avi Buffalo took its time on this one, and it shows.
This record’s greatest strength is its impossible variance. Much like any given album by famed label mate Chad VanGaalen, the trajectory of At Best Cuckold is perfectly unpredictable. The album ranges from the down-and-out, heart-wrecked ambience of Elliot Smith to the decidedly reserved shoegaze tendencies of Tame Impala and straight through to the backcountry-but-forthright folk of Woods. Simply put, At Best Cuckold boasts a journey of epic, genre-defying sonic proportions.
The ten-track killer opens on the album’s single, “So What.” This is an upbeat, jangly tune that packs as much tension and compression into its infrastructure as a Californian mega bridge. Thematically and lyrically, the record explores the ephemeral emotions that are intrinsically attached to 20s-something romance. Lonerism, independence, self-doubt and self-realization are all present on the words that bind these songs. But, masterfully, the album retains a sterling sense of determination.
“Found Blind,” for instance, recognizes that it’s always darkest before it goes pitch black, but battles the abyss with a cache of unabashed id. Similarly, “Won’t Be Around No More” confronts neurosis with unwavering and pure nomadic tendencies. The album at large leaves listeners with a clean cut sense of willful abandonment, born of wanderlust, introspection and, though circumspect, emotional attachment.
The band will embark on a massive fall tour, beginning with a West Coast venture in support of Owen Pallett. This stint will kick off in conjunction with At Best Cuckold’s September 9 release. Next, Avi Buffalo will continue on in Europe through mid-October. With tour dates scheduled on U.S. soil between October 28 and November 18, opportunities are numerous to catch the group in action. Should this band roll through your city, drop everything at once and ready yourself for rapture.
Photos By Renata Raksha
Liz Rowley
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