It’s hardly unusual for a record label to promote new bands and artists by proclaiming their songwriting genius; it is decidedly less common, however, for these claims to have any kind of basis in fact. When that label’s recent track record include successes on the scale of Fleet Foxes and the Shins though, it’s easier to believe they might actually have a point; one listen to the self-titled debut album by Avi Buffalo confirms that – in this case, at least- they really are onto something.
As a back-story, the beginnings of Avi Buffalo are the stuff of every teenage boy’s fantasies: skater boy from Long Beach, California picks up a guitar and writes songs about his ex-girlfriend. Then asks her to join his band. Band subsequently gets signed to coolest label of all time and drops a truly awe-inspiring debut album before any of them hit 21. To 19 year-old Avigdor Zahner-Isenberg, life must be feeling like some incredible dream; with the release of this record, fans of classic fuzzy pop songwriting should also be counting their blessings.
Avi Buffalo, as one would expect from a Sub Pop album, is essentially an indie-pop album, but one that leans heavily on the classic West-coast rock and psychedelic folk sounds of the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. Whereas labelmates like Band Of Horses and Blitzen Trapper channel similar influences through a grungey haze, Avi Buffalo strip their music down to crystal clear guitars, minimal drums and subtle piano or organ accompaniment. Zahner-Isenberg’s voice is high and creaky like a more effeminate Neil Young, but it is his guitar skills that are the real draw here; apparently honed during a childhood spent jamming with “old blues dudes”, he is as adept at acoustic finger-picking as he is jamming fluttering, Tom Verlaine-esque solos. It’s a rarity these days, and a real pleasure, for an “indie” guitarist – especially one so young- to seem so comfortable with his talent.
Lyrically, Zahner-Isenberg’s surreal outpourings may recall closer contemporaries like Ween or even Ariel Pink, but lines like “You are tiny and your lips are like little pieces of bacon”, buried under the jangling guitars and high harmonies of former single “What’s In It For?,” also hark further back to the likes of Arthur Lee’s Love. There are many bizarre brain-farts on Avi Buffalo (“Can’t I Know”’s “Take my leg/I don’t need it… stay here ‘til you’re stoned” being a personal favourite), but for every such puzzler Zahner-Isenberg throws in a verse of lovestruck poetic imagery so cute you want to ruffle his hair and tell him everything will be alright. “No-one can make you lose your faith/‘cept for someone who you love”, he sighs on the slow-burning Jessica; on the seven minute-plus “Remember Last Time,” he bashfully admits “I’ve never written a love song, but I will for you.” When addressing his emotions rather than spouting random nonsense, Avi successfully conveys all the joy, despair, naivety and wisdom that churn up the insides of every teenager in love without ever resorting to angst or self-pity.
Remarkably, this is a no-filler album and although a few tracks follow a similar structural pattern (largely instrumental latter halves that explode into epic guitar solos), every note feels planned in minute detail. Every song has an instantly memorable melody and it’s own unique flavour, from opener “Truth Sets In”’s hand-clapping disco beat and backwards guitars, to “Coaxed”’s gently tinkling pianos and soft woodwind outro, to the jazz-pop feel of “Five Little Sluts.” Pick of the bunch are “Summer Cum”, a circular, erotic nursery rhyme; the aforementioned “Remember Last Time” and “What’s In It For?”; and the country stomp of “One Last,” a duet with keyboard-playing ex-sweetheart Rebecca Coleman. Zahner-Isenberg has admitted that the only Sub Pop record he ever bought was a Shins album, but this musical master-class suggests that he could teach James Mercer and friends a thing or two. For a debut album, Avi Buffalo is amazingly assured and whilst only time will tell whether the “songwriting genius” claims are justified, this is a very promising start indeed.
