(Photo courtesy Avi Buffalo)Avi Buffalo has been pretty quiet over the last four years. Its 2010 eponymous debut received rave reviews on many websites and in many magazines, but then it kind of dropped off the map.
Sure, the band did a little touring to make some money here and there, but nothing new was released. Finally, this June, the band released a single off the now-arrived album. The boring little ditty was called “So What,” and I thought: How appropriate! Avi Buffalo has finally released something new, but “so what?” It’s boring.
Unfortunately this question stuck with me throughout most of the new album, "At Best Cuckold." I got a strong feeling that the songs have been done before, though of course they haven’t. “So What” opens the album with a blend of guitars that could be heard on any indie folk album recorded in the last decade.
The vocal effects on “Two Cherished Understandings” seem like a failed attempt at recreating something from the Flaming Lips’s “The Soft Bulletin.” By the time I got to song six of 10, I became thoroughly uninterested. The music faded into the background, and I no longer cared about what I’m hearing.
Thankfully it’s not all bad. “Memories of You” stuck with me, reminding me of the sweet vocal inflections that are all over the 2010 release. The guitar on this track is a bit more complicated than on the rest, dancing up and down scales note by note, instead of sticking to a lousy strumming pattern.
“Overwhelmed with Pride” also jumps out. The guitar on this one is simple, but the background vocals seem to fit like a glove, and the vocal pitch rests in the tune perfectly. The quiet horns at the close of the chorus bring something new to the table.
It's upsetting to anticipate a great album for about four years, only to be disappointed. An interview that lead singer Avigdor Zahner-Isenberg did with Pitchfork in July only furthered my interest because Zahner-Isenberg rationalized the long wait by saying he believed in putting “a lot of time in in order to become good at performing or writing.” He also mentioned involvement in the avant-garde Los Angeles scene, which is ironic because, as I mentioned before, I’ve heard multiple albums that sound just like this; one example is Woods’ “Sun and Shade,” released in 2011.
When asked by Pitchfork if it will take four more years to make his next album, Zahner-Isenberg uncertainly responded that certain songs take longer to record than others, and that he was still learning about sound. Maybe this is good. Maybe the next four years will actually be worth the wait.
Reach the reporter at wruof@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @willruof
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