Buffalo '77 - Memento
Having formed just over a year ago, Leicester trio Buffalo '77 have worked hard and fast to create a vastly eclectic sound and a debut record informed by such grand topics as life and our very reason for being.
A collection of largely upbeat songs, Memento combines the charming melancholy of Coldplay with the post-punk glamour of The Killers.
Opener Won't Forget soars with a bruised but beautiful spirit immediately entering the consciousness with its pop-infused beat and string backing that lift tormented lyrics out of the dark and brighten the mood.
Lead singer James Leighton has the kind of voice that simply enamours any ear onto which it falls. Certain and direct one minute, breathy and vulnerable the next; his sensitive delivery carries all the depth and meaning of his lyrics, without jeopardising the tune.
Cheap Champagne sees the often complex arrangements stripped right back to the bare essentials as the listener is sails on limpid waters with only subtle undercurrents of sadness that make it far more agreeable than the average ballad.
Hard To Breathe and Going Over continue with the same bittersweet tendencies, dealing with the pain of failed relationships in an upbeat power pop tone.
As its name suggests No Comfort delves deeper into tear-jerking territory with an eerie and unsettling tale of hope not completely lost.
"The lights are changing, hope remains here, I wake up here," cries Leighton with a fragile Chris Martin falsetto surely set to be reducing packed arenas to tears in due course.
A neatly polished box of memories tainted by the kind of heart-wrenching pains of love that anyone who's lived will relate to. Like tears cried onto old photographs, Memento leaves a mark that carries an empowering message; that which doesn't kill us can only make us stronger.
Prepare to get carried away and lost in the exquisitely calm yet powerfully uplifting world that Buffalo '77 have built.
Rating: 4/5
Skip To: Going Over
Anthony Hill