I first heard of Buffalo Summer a couple of years ago when the Welsh rock band Lethargy decided to call it a day and a couple of its members decided to form Buffalo Summer.

I was fortunate enough to catch their set at the legendary 100 Club in Oxford Street, London when they opened for Canadian rock band Monster Truck in April and they just tore the place up as they treated fans to tracks from both their first album and their second cut ‘Second Sun’ which they were previewing at the time.

Well the new album is now out and offering twelve heavy rock tracks for the public’s listening pleasure. Opener ‘Money’ is not the Pink Floyd classic but rather their own head-banging tune. Andrew Hunt lead vocals have a real Deep Purple-esque approach whilst Gareth Hunt on drums really excels.

‘Heartbreakin’ Floorshakin’ features a hypnotic electric guitar riff courtesy of Jonny Williams who doesn’t play over Hunt’s vocals. Weirdly, the track’s volume dipped slightly without me doing anything which suggests that the volume levels might be a tad off.

‘Make You Mine’ is real Bad Company territory as the vocals just soar and ‘NeverEnd’ will become a live favourite with its catchy chorus and percussive beat.

‘As High As The Pines’ seems quite forgettable but musically well-executed and ‘Light Of The Sun’ includes some beautiful cello by Emma Bryden.

‘Levitate’  has real American feel to with the use of steel guitar on the intro and the song wouldn’t be out of place on an album by The Cadillac Three.  ‘Into Your Head’ includes strong band vocal harmonies and ‘Little Charles’ is incredibly similar to very early material by British blues-rock outfit The Hoax with the exception that Andrew is putting a bit of American twang in his voice which seems bizzare for someone from The Valleys.  With that said, they are not the first UK band to have pseudo-American accents and they won’t be the last. It is a funky number with classy horns by Luke Lockyer and Ryan Jones.

Closer ‘Water To Wine’ is an interesting track as I really think it can be a huge hit with the steady bass groove from Darren King and Williams swirly guitar effects. In fact, (and this is meant with no disrespect whatsoever) I could see Robbie Williams recording this track as I believe his vocals are similar with Andrew Hunt’s on this song.

In conclusion, Buffalo Summer are a tight four-piece who have honed their craft with extensive touring as headliners and tour special guests so there is absolutely no questioning their musical abilities and enthusiasm but issues with the album’s production does let it down somewhat as the volume goes all over the place from track to track.

It is clear that the band members have grown up on a diet of music by Free, Bad Company, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin and The Black Crowes to name a few and that comes through in their overall writing style and sound.

I must quickly give a shout out to Jamie Kirkhouse and Gestaltungskommando BUNTMETALL for the stunning album artwork and design on this album.

I look forward to catching them on the live circuit again at some point and I will make a prediction that Buffalo Summer will play at Ramblin Man Fair 2017 in Maidstone, Kent, United Kingdom on one of the stages. Watch this space…

Glenn Sargeant