Backwords – The Buffalo Still Roam
I’m thinking Americana, the opener ‘The Beggars And The Bread ‘confounds that by sounding more like The Kinks. A marvellous oompah swing of a song ushered in on Chet Baker sweet horn, a lament of an unhopeful suitor who just might have got lucky. ‘Homeland Security’ is Neil Young, no way round it, something around ‘Hawks & Doves time. ‘I Need An Ocean’ is more the Americana I was expecting, a stagger round with a 20 second electric solo that is wonderful and as basic as they come.
‘Oklahoma’, while sadly not as high as an elephant’s eye, is a waltzing Southern Cold War Kids. After a two second undertow of menace ‘This Is What I Call Home’ is fully ushered in with chimes and vocals, then brought out to main-street by honky tonk rhythm, whistling (yeah, whistling) and a keening chorus. The ghosts of the town, high on peyote, shuffle through the desert dusk. They come back on the title track to mumble muffled and drunk pleas, desperate to return to a simpler time, the banjo picking notes with the same painful nostalgia realised by John Barry’s theme from The Persuaders (one of the few tracks that can reduce me to tears, fact fans).
‘Smoke Detector’ is whimsy, weaker than the rest but fun nonetheless, another basic but magnificent guitar part lifting it to a harmonious section. ‘Earth From Space’ is like a David Lynch soundtrack piece and a lovely coda. All this down home fun and they seem to be from Brooklyn (hottest city on the planet right now) – go figure. That this is a free legal download, shows that there are gems to be found on-line even for fans usually in need of the tangible object.
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