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i can see mountains, pentimento, the traditional, the waiting room — 0 comments

Tonight: Pentimento with I Can See Mountains and The Traditional

Tonight is Pentimento's second annual holiday show. Last year, in one of the dying venue's memorable last shows, the band packed the Mohawk Place so tightly it was hard to move (at least I'm pretty sure that was the Pentimento show I'm thinking of)... But this year, Pentimento will be shredding The Waiting Room. Joining them will be I Can See Mountains in what will be their farewell performance, The Traditional, Dangerfield, and Caleb and Carolyn.

If you bought a presale ticket, enjoy your VIP session with the band that starts at 6:00pm. If you settled for regular tickets, doors are at 7.

buffablog summer party, duke's, go exploring, i can see mountains, jack topht, mac, preview, spooky business, the demos, the malones — 0 comments

Tonight: buffaBLOG Summer Party

After lengthy planning and a week of previews of participating musicians, the day of the Summer Party has arrived. Our blog parties have always been my favorite part of running buffaBLOG. They are opportunities to introduce someone to their new favorite local act, catch up with old friends, and for our writers to enjoy something other than my pestering text messages. I don't expect tonight at Duke's to be any different. Whether you have been following all week or are new to this and missed any of our party artist spotlights, take a minute to look over tonight's bill and read up on the acts below:

Go Exploring
Jack Topht
The Demos
The Malones
I Can See Mountains
Spooky Business

Music begins tonight at 10pm SHARP and runs til close so there is no need to go anywhere else to get your music fix this evening. We have you covered. $5 at the door and you are good to go.

Artist Spotlight, buffablog party, dbgbs, dukes, i can see mountains, joe speranza — 0 comments

buffaBlog Summer Party Artist Spotlight: I Can See Mountains

You may have already heard, but buffaBLOG is having a party this weekend. We missed New Kids On The Block, 98 Degrees, and Boyz II Men by a hair. Fortunately for the blog, the general public and the spirit of music, there are great local bands ready to play and I Can See Mountains is one of them.

I listen to I Can See Mountains and all of a sudden I can see memories; memories of being in 9th grade with my flipped hair and frosted tips, memories of buying cheap cologne to cover up the smell of a stolen cigarette. I listen to I Can See Mountains and I can see Eugene Levy walking in on Jason Biggs masturbating into a tube sock. In fact, this music could have been the entire soundtrack to American Pie. It's relentlessly fun and delightfully retro and really, there's only so much blink-182 you can listen to before the 90's calls and wants its music back. So thank you, I Can See Mountains, for bringing this kind of music back because people my age miss it and need it.

The party is Saturday at Duke's, and the music starts at 10 p.m. SHARP. Be there or be Uma Thurman doing that thing with her hands in Pulp Fiction.

dukes, go exploring, i can see mountains, jack toft, just announced, mac, spooky business, the malones — 0 comments

Just Announced: buffaBLOG Summer Party

So who really needs a beach to have a good summer party anyways? On Saturday, August 10th, we will be returning to the friendly confines of Duke's (253 Allen Street) for our 2nd annual Summer Party with stacked bill of the best acts that Buffalo (and Rochester too) has to offer. Taking the stage this August will be Go Exploring, Jack Toft, Sports (Rochester), The Malones, and I Can See Mountains, along with Spooky Business, our house DJs for the evening, who were recently named Best DJ Crew in Artvoice's Best of Buffalo. As always, music kicks off at 10pm sharp and $5 is all it will take to be a part of the fun.

dikembe, i can see mountains, jon, mother mary's, preview, Real People — 0 comments

Tonight: Dikembe

Summer is for lovers. It's also for tasty pop punk jams. Something about the warm air and uber melodic lickage. They just go together. Don't question. Just accept.

Tonight, Gainesville, Florida's Dikembe will join two of Buffalo's more popular melodic punk/indie acts, I Can See Mountains and Real People, at Mother Mary's, located at 427 Hoyt St. This is an old-fashioned house show so be respectful of the neighbors and the house, and please get there on time. Set times are firm. The show starts at 7 and is $6-$8. It's Saturday, the sun is shining, and the volume will be cranked to 11. Life is good.

Album of the Week, i can see mountains, Nick — 0 comments

Album of the Week: I Can See Mountains - Life on a Houseboat

It really bums me out when I read record reviews about bands from Buffalo. They usually begin with something like, "Buffalo, NY, the epitome of hell on Earth. Who would ever want to live there?" or, "Well, *band name* has had plenty of time to write *debut album* since they've been holed up inside all summer because Buffalo is consistently covered with seven inches of snow."

Well, buffaBLOG isn't perpetuating that stereotype. In fact, we love our beautiful city, and for that matter, our unreasonably talented local music scene. I guess I should get to the point - this week I have the pleasure of reviewing I Can See Mountains' new album, Life on a Houseboat. These guys aren't just any local band, they have a record deal with Panic Records. This means that they are bound to get reviews from people who don't live in Buffalo, and I don't think it's fair for them to have to read that little slap in Buffalo's face every time they read one. We're more than just the Bills and the Sabres. And right now in the middle of June, it has been RAINING, not snowing, for the past two weeks and the temperature has been at LEAST 60 degrees every day. Give us a break.

For that matter, ICSM easily has some of the coolest merch I have ever seen (that Ray Charles "I Can't See Mountains" shirt is genius)... and despite occasionally being a revolving door of musicians, the men who have formed ICSM have consistently been offering some of the best punk/pop/indie music from Buffalo's thriving scene. guess it's not really a surprise that their new record, Life on a Houseboat, finds the Mountains crew maturing a little and honing their songwriting into something a little more polished and concise.

Mountains' debut Hope You Never Get It was the kind of raucous, sloppy-in-the-best-kind-of-way punk EP meant for sweaty basement shows and beer-soaked sing alongs. Life on a Houseboat isn't that far off from that, but it does take the rough edges that every fledgling band seems to have and smooths them out a bit. Remember those sloppy but totally endearing debuts from Brand New and Taking Back Sunday way back when? ICSM's evolution is kind of like those groups'. The record starts out strong with "One Mirror, Two Bodies." Everything on Life on a Houseboat is urgent pop punk at its best, and this particular opening track is a perfect example. Gang vocals are everywhere, and most of the lyrics are just thoughts being wondered out loud. Everyone is just flat out yelling, but at the same time, it's very clear that they are all having a good time making noise with their friends. As far as I'm concerned, that's what this album is all about.

"Sea Legs" is bound to be one of our top local songs of the year. This track is solid enough to appeal to even discriminating fans who don't normally like things from the pop-punk vein. This is ICSM at their best - all that really needs to be said are that there are gang vocals galore, coupled with the pure, urgent catharsis oozing out of every chord. Songs like "I Play the Fox" and again, the opener "One Mirror, Two Bodies," showcase ICSM's nimble guitar lines. Usually punk like this is a lot of power chords and jumping around, but Mountains has a way of injecting a bit of intricacy into their songs. It's never enough to take over a song in an annoying way, but, with so many overlapping vocal tracks on this album, it's nice to know that ICSM has some very capable guitarists in their ranks.

I have to mention "Glory." Most of Life on a Houseboat is about the awkwardness of growing up and the profound thoughts we all seem to have at one point or another. "Let's talk about it, I want to be friends with your friends, I want to watch indie movies with you" pretty much sums it up, and that's where this album truly hits home. What single twenty-something doesn't want those things? I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to watch Garden State with some cute indie-chick who liked my band. And even when Mountains calms things down a bit, they never cease to be packed full of emotion. "Sweater Science" could easily be another fast-paced jam but instead ICSM settles for an intricate rolling tom beat and they pull things back just enough to really make things count when they blast back into familiar territory around the two minute mark... But "One Big Table" is the true slow-jam on this album. Even though it's as slow as ICSM gets, it still sounds like a bunch of drunk kids in a room playing around with their instruments.

I've said it a bunch of times in this review already, but I Can See Mountains has released an album full of rowdy sing-alongs. It almost seems like at times, they just yelled randomly until they came up with something that sounded right. That's a compliment by the way, but whether or not that's the case is irrelevant - in their last song, "The Tigers Have Found Me and I Do Not Care," they start out with a spoken word mantra. It's a little bit different from the rest of Mountain's repertoire, but it makes you realize - It doesn't really matter what these songs sound like. ICSM is all about friendship, camaraderie, and growing up... and whether it's a spoken word mantra or atonal drunken yelling, it all gets the same point across.

Forget what everyone else says, take it from ICSM. Buffalo is a great place to spend your twenties.

i can see mountains, mac, new music — 1 comments

I Can See Mountains Release New Song, Video For "I Play The Fox"

With a summer release in sight for Life On A Houseboat, the debut full length album from I Can See Mountains, the band has released the album's first song, and accompanying video, in "I Play The Fox." The upbeat emo-punk tune, filled with the shouting harmonies that the band does oh so well, is full of Beach Boys loving nostalgia, a perfect preparation for the summer season that will be here at some point, right? Anyways, check out the video to "I Play The Fox," full of glow stick loving masked men, below and keep an eye out for the band's next live show on May 12th at the Waiting Room.

All Blondes Go to Heaven, i can see mountains, jr. elevator, local artist spotlight, Nick — 0 comments

Local Supergroup Alert: Jr. Elevator

How often do supergroups form among the ranks of our local acts? Buffalo doesn't usually get that lucky. But members of I Can See Mountains and All Blondes Go To Heaven have come together to form what we at buffaBLOG would consider an emo supergroup - they call themselves Jr. Elevator.

So far, Jr. Elevator has only released one song... It is full of acoustic guitar, a bouncy electric riff, and plenty of catchy vocals; it walks the line of late 90's emo and straightforward indie rock. There are even some hints of alt-country. Either way, the ICSM/All Blondes influence is definitely there, especially in the sing-a-longs towards the end of the song. Enjoy a listen to "Control All of The Chaos (I'll Hide All of My Teeth In)" below.

dbgb's, Hidden Hospitals, i can see mountains, sknapp, voices — 0 comments

Tonight: Hidden Hospitals

Chicago progressive alternative rock band Hidden Hospitals will headline a showcase of both local and national alt rock talent tonight at Duke's. The band released their debut, EP 001 in 2011 and their follow up EP 002 last October, both of which are set to be released on vinyl this April. Buffalo indie rockers I Can See Mountains, who released their EP I Hope You Never Get It last year on Panic Records will open tonight's show. Also opening are Albany post-hardcore band Voices. Doors open at 9 and tickets can be purchased at the door for $8.

All Blondes Go to Heaven, funeral home, giants at large, i can see mountains, of fortune and fame, run the coast, The Rough — 0 comments

Tonight: Of Fortune and Fame, Giants at Large, and more

It doesn't really get any more pop-punk than this. For anyone craving a good bro-out, or even if you just want to release some extra pent up energy, a stacked, six-band lineup at the Funeral Home is waiting for you tonight. Pop-punk behemoths Of Fortune and Fame and Giants at Large, from Syracuse and Long Island respectively, will be headlining the show. As far as Buffalo is concerned, The Rough, I Can See Mountains, All Blondes go to Heaven, and Run the Coast will be attempting (successfully) to fill up the Funeral Home with their friends and fans.

Doors are at 6. Tickets are only $7. The Funeral Home is always more fun when it's packed.

i can see mountains, mohawk place, pentimento, sknapp, such gold — 0 comments

Tonight: Pentimento Album Release Show

Formed in Buffalo in the summer of 2010, Pentimento are a four piece punk band who strive to create a sound focused on the raw emotion of scene that birthed them. The band released their debut self titled album in November as a free download and tonight's show at Mohawk Place will celebrate the record with the first 100 fans receiving a collectible hand-numbered poster. Whether you're into hardcore or pop-punk or any other rock related genre, it's likely that you'll be into the sound that Pentimento has crafted. In a genre where authenticity has always been the enduring ideal, the band brings unmatched energy to their sets that is undeniably infectious.

Opening tonight's show are Such Gold, a Rochester punk band who formed in 2009 and recently released their first full length album, Misadventures, on Los Angeles based label Razor and Tie records. Show starts at 7pm and is sold out. With Mohawk Place coming into it's final weeks, you won't want to miss this chance to see one of the best punk bands coming out of Buffalo play a set in the iconic venue.

alden, check out, i can see mountains, jon, quiet country audio — 0 comments

New QCA Session featuring I Can See Mountains

Our friends over at Quiet Country Audio, or QCA to fellow impatient writers, have posted a new session for emo-tinged pop-punk upstarts, I Can See Mountains. As many of you know by now, QCA is responsible for live recorded sessions as well as some pretty awesome video output. I'm a big fan of this series and you should be too... Check out their session here!

All Blondes Go to Heaven, dbgb's, i can see mountains, Nick, preview, sleepy hahas, the traditional, tonight — 0 comments

Tonight: I Can See Mountains

Buffalo's I Can See Mountains play the kind of feel-good punk music that seems to exist solely to let everyone have a good time. Their seven-song release, Hope You Never Get It, is a collection of messy, fun pop punk (because you know they're jumping around while they're playing it) chock full of sing alongs and a seemingly endless number of vocalists. Their songs are simple to comprehend. It's all about friendship and having a great time and that makes for a light-hearted listen.

They'll be playing tonight at DBGB's with fellow Buffalo pop-punk in All Blondes Go To Heaven as well as Sleepy Hahas and The Traditional. The show is $8 - doors are at 9:00 PM.