We’re always on the lookout for cool new music here at Buzzbin. We search and scour the corners of the Internet, scraping up aural oddities and free downloads. Sometimes you find a hidden gem amongst all of the clones. Chicago’s Michael Lux and the Bad Sons are diamonds in a pile of rocks. Their reverb-fueled pop terror has been deemed too dangerously addictive to sell; therefore the five-song EP “Neat Repeater” has been federally mandated to be free to the public. We highly recommend searching for this incredible freebie. It’s a slice of indie-rock pie that is just damned delicious....
The Woosley Band is a lot twangier and rootsier than Guided By Voices ever were, but that’s the most frequent comparison. Frontman Sean Woosley’s voice sounds more like a southern version of Peter Gabriel than Robert Pollard, but the catchy, twangy tunes he pens are a joy to the ears. Veterans of the Columbus rock scene, Woosley Band have been popping up in performances in Northeast Ohio recently and hopefully that will continue. Live, they dish out gloriously sloppy Pavement-style alternative country-rock that’s deeply infectious to listen to. Keep your eyes peeled for more local shows ...
The mighty warlords of Crom helm a warship of doom and set forth on a conquest to pillage and devour everything in their path. Instead of riding steeds, these beer-swilling potheads sit atop roaring Kenworth semis and massive combine tractors. They’ve come for your women, your beer and all of your weed. Sound like a bizarre sci-fi epic? It’s not. It’s Canton’s very own soothsayers of doom, Son Of Neckbeard, and let me tell you, if you like your music extremely loud, weird and bowel-loosening heavy, these dudes are for you. They’re releasing their debut album February 3 at The Carriag...
Labeling themselves the hardest drinking band in Northeast Ohio, Akron’s bluegrass old-timey punks Johnny & The Apple Stompers are one of the best live acts in the area. Just as quick as they might deliver a Hank Williams cover they can turn on a dime and bust into a frenzied re-working of The Misfits that will have all the punks bouncing around and spilling beer. Multi-instrumentalist Ben Shuber is effortless in his attack of the washboard and accordion and is prone to dress in a dingy old chicken suit that looks like it’s been soaked in copious amounts of drool and booze. These guys are ...
Akillis Green grew up in a rusty shack in Miamisburg, Ohio, where he discovered his love of music. After years of playing in punk-rock bands he found himself feeling empty and unfulfilled, so he traded in his electric guitar for an acoustic and commenced to writing his own style of old-time American roots tunes. On stage Akillis looks like a cross between a modern-day Buddy Holly and a whiskey-soaked gutter punk, and he has a full band of tattooed misanthropes backing him. They got the rock and the roll and know how to stir the pot of punk-infused Americana with the best of them. Be sure to ca...
Well, they’re no longer getting kicked out of every bar they play and singing guitar-slinger Jeremy James seems to be managing to keep his amplifier running for an entire set, but make no bones about it: This rampaging T-County monster is still abrasive enough to get under most people’s sensitive skin. Delivering some of the finest blasts of Dwarves-inspired punk rock ‘n’ roll that you could ever hope to hear, The Gunt Punchers are one of my favorite bands. Some of their shows are the stuff of legend already — beer baths, broken equipment, vomiting on the side of the stage. You might...
I have made it my personal goal to catch this Akron band live. And if their live show is even half as cool as the songs I’ve been listening to online, then I’m in for a treat. They’re kind of mysterious in a way, with weird but cool song titles like “Rocktopus,” “Bullet Proof Tiger” and “Ultimate Warrior,” and musically they remind me of The Melvins, Sleep, Sonic Youth and old Kiss (before they completely sold their souls). Great stoner rawk music with a strange twist of noise, tempo changes and humor that I can’t wait to see live. I recommend you do the same....
“Ultimately the Underground Airplane is a reason for humans to crowd around and be pure and feel the energy we all invoke together.” Or at least that’s what the bio of this Kent/Cleveland power trio says. The alchemy Underground Airplane creates live though is on par with the same soul cleansing of early-’80s Bad Brains. Delivering noise and guitar skronk that’s asymmetrical and catchy at the same time, like thistles scraping your skin and leaving behind a burning itch. If you crave something a bit different, take a chance on these guys. When you’re hungering for rock music in your...
Orlando is home to some very talented dudes, but singer/guitar player Bob Hershberger and drummer Waylon Thornton are a sonic force to be reckoned with. I saw them almost tear a stage to pieces and shake a room of soulless hipsters to their very core. Sounding like Dinosaur Jr. and Sonic Youth meets My Bloody Valentine on a coke binge, it’s hard to believe that such a powerful, and at times melodic, noise comes from only two people. I know what you’re thinking — The Black Keys — and you’re wrong. Bob On Blonde is regularly delivering earthquakes off the Richter scale charts in Florid...
This Akron band of rock ‘n’ roll street punks delivers the finest anthemic singa-longs you could ever hope to hear. First Offense’s Rust Belt songs make you just want to dance and sing and scream your heart out. They’ve been at it long enough to have developed a rabid fan base that drinks heartily and gets as rowdy as the band does. The floor at Annabell’s is always a frothing sea of spilled beer and sweat when these guys hit their first chord. If you haven’t had the opportunity to see them live then please do yourself a favor and make it happen. They’re the real deal, and have a...
Thirty-one years, 13 albums and a million miles of road traveled and there seems to be no end in sight for The Meat Puppets. From their humble beginning in Phoenix in 1980 playing parties and punk bars to flirting with commercial success in the early ’90s grunge boom, the “brothers meat” have put together one of the most interesting catalogs in alternative music. We interviewed frontman Curt Kirkwood to find out some more about them. BB: Tell me about the new album, “Lollipop.” CK: Well, it’s the third record since we reunited in 2006. We’ve been on tour pretty much non-sto...
Dolly Rocker Ragdoll I caught this dude’s show at the Buzzbin Last Friday Concert in July and was completely (and pleasantly) stunned to find out that someone from Canton is delivering such oozing, primal and bizarre blues-punk music. Onstage Dolly Rocker Ragdoll is a crazy mess of bright pink hair and vintage black clothes that accentuates his graveyard pallor. Banging away on a sweet-ass old Kay guitar and running it through a strange network of amps and ancient reverb, his music is primitive, noisy and spooky, reminding me of the whacked-out psychobilly of early Cramps and the fe...
The Matrimonials When this Baltimore band finally hits the right ears, they’re going to be unstoppable. They’ve self-released two fantastic albums of indie rock candy that are both quirky and anthemic — a rare feat these days. Both are on regular rotation in my iPod. Plus, their live show will blow your mind: They played at the Auricle in Canton in June and the beer and rock flowed like a roaring geyser. As noisy and drunken as early Pavement albums but with a poppy heart, I highly recommend these guys. Album to get: “New Jams to Slam in your Jam Box” The Said So Canton's ver...
