I've been an anglophile for as long as I can remember. Whether it's music, TV, literature, slang, etc, if it's from the United Kingdom I'm almost certainly partial to it. Simultaneously I've always been a huge Buffalo booster, and along with that I've also been obsessed with British analogs for our fair city. Yes, even though my heart belongs to the Arsenal (based in North London), my soul is a northern soul, and it's to the north of England that my soul is drawn. Post industrial, proudly working class, hard done by, and seemingly light years from the capital... sound familiar? Oh yeah, Buffalo's UK sister city is definitely a northern city. But which one? Newcastle is the UK's northernmost city, but I can't get excited for it. Liverpool? I've heard that it does indeed feel like our Buffalo, but the Liverpool music scene's been beat since the early 60's. No, I've always been attracted to Manchester, probably more due to wishful thinking than reality, but that's what I'm going with.
Manchester. An Industrial Age city that got kicked in the teeth when the post industrial age rolled around, a solidly working class town that's more than a little bit hardscrabble and rough... a city that's also had a killer music scene for more than 30 years. OK, Buffalo is not Manchester, but I've always wanted Buffalo to be like Manchester, a city that's embraced it's past but not at the expense of the present and future. Which brings me at last to Buffalo's own Made Violent. I wasn't expecting them when I saw them opening for Young Empires at the Town Ballroom a few weeks back, but I instantly fell for them as they unloaded a set heavy with tasteful riffs, heavy grooves, and a sweet sound that synched up with my northern soul. My dreams had come true! At last, somebody in Buffalo was channeling Oasis; not aping or riffing on them necessarily, but rather playing in that Mahn-chest-ah sandbox, and it was GOOD.
It's a beautiful thing, hearing local fellas blending Rust Belt rock honesty and earnestness with sweet, tuneful northern Brit pop, and speaking for myself I'm very keen to hear what's next for this local band to watch. Made Violent is Buffalo, through and through, and Buffalo's got to check them out because Made Violent is good for our soul.
shitty dudes
Same
LOVE these guys. Singer is sooooo hot!