Now Presenting... Avi Buffalo.

By: Valerie

For the musically inclined, finding one or multiple summer soundtracks is key. Something about the summer air not only uplifts your soul, but also your ears. Like plants, we lean towards the sun. UV rays seeping into our pores, outdoor barbeques, watermelon slices and a plethora of smiles- only to be accompanied by the melodies that define your glorious months. You look back upon those moments, those sounds that evoke the slightest sense of warmth as fall’s cold air rushes through rustling leaves above your head. Its is July, so lets us bask on a little bit longer, tap our toes, and lie down in the fresh cut grass.




Avi Buffalo’s self -titled debut (released in April 2010 on Sub Pop), is an album that has been sitting patiently in my iTunes library awaiting its rotation amongst a cluster of brand new music and has slowly but surely made its place in my go-to summer picks. Avi Buffalo, is a quartet hailing from Long Beach, California. Sheridan Riley on drums, Rebecca Coleman on keyboards along with vocals bring the estrogen to the group while Avigdor Zahner-Insberg (where the ‘Avi’ comes from) provides lead vocals and the strum of the guitar complimentary of Arin Fazio on the bass. While their album has had much buzz and success, the majority of the band members are simply recent high school graduates, most of them being between the ages of 18 and 19 with the exception of Riley, age 21. With an album with tracks titled “Summer Cum” and “Five Little Sluts,” how can you not be intrigued? I suppose I am a bit of a pervert, so on I listened.

The album’s first track “Truth Sets In” sets the pace for the breezy forty minutes you have left to hear. A whirlwind of ease flows through the crooning voice of Zahner-Insberg mumbling his awkward woes. Being such young individuals, they write about what they know best- youth, and dealing with it. Free of clichés, there are no tracks about cliques, varsity football games and the cafeteria’s mystery meat. (Well, there is that line “your lips are like tiny pieces of bacon” in their first single “What’s In it For?”) Track after track brings forth that feeling we all once knew, that vulnerability and naivety every teenager felt. The critique of yourself in the mirror for hours, the dread of school dances, and the about face you did at the sight of your crush in the hall, and the longing expectation felt within interactions with members of the opposite sex. The moments we thought meant the world to us then that we can’t help but cherish now.  As J.D. Salinger epitomized the tale of coming of age with “Catcher in the Rye,” Avi Buffalo attempts their stab at it with tales of romance, warped relationships, and questions of existence, death, along with odes to self-discovery and doubt.


Musically, they are talented. Avi Zahner-Insberg’s raspy, child like howls reminisce those of Karen O. in the Where the Wild Things Are soundtrack, simply more understated. The tone of Avi’s voice is also very similar that of The Thrills’ lead singer Conor Deasy. Each world stumbles upon another, only adding to each songs quirky, awkward element. On tracks such as “One Last” where Rebecca Coleman’s vocals truly come forth, both singers bounce of each other’s sounds. Both scratchy voiced singers, Coleman and Insberg achieve a harmony that is a ying and yang. While Insberg coolly instills himself in our presence, Coleman picks up the pace and brings a tinge of life to our mellow. Though frequently compared to The Shins, I being a devout Shins listener, beg to differ. I would consider this band to be what would become the result of a fusion of Rilo Kiley and Woods-if that makes sense to my fellow music heads. Each song on the album has a quality that makes it easy to enter; each track can be hummed along to. Their one flaw is in the endings of their songs, sometimes dragging on when one could have made due without the dramatic winding. But hey, they’re young! They have plenty of time to correct a very promising start. While many other artists in various bands make tracks to jab our brain in an instant, Avi Buffalo simply sinks right in. The melodies are simple and sweet sounding, constantly blended with soft, eerie echoes. Perfect listening for the nights you spend drinking beers for your friends, thinking of your current crush, and even on your adventures walking around in the summer sun.

Key Tracks: “What’s In It For?” “Summer Cum,” “One Last”


Watch their video for "What's In It For?" HERE.