Shifting Buffalo - Tempus Fugit Already
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| Shifting Buffalo - Tempus Fugit Already |
Release Date: 25th August 2014
Before we get on to the music
there are two things you need to know. Firstly, be very, very careful if you
Google this artist - shittingbuffalo.com is not a site anyone needs to see.
Secondly, the proceeds from this album are being split between the Florence
Nightingale Hospice and the British Lung Foundation so there is fine intention
behind this music if nothing else. Now, on to the music. The album opens up
with 'Step By Step' which has a harmless electro-acoustic jangle and poppy bass
line before 'Sunshine' bursts in to life like a Huey Lewis & The News track
being performed by the Lightning Seeds. 'Crossed Lines' is like a sequel to
REM's 'Everybody Hurts' while 'Gorgeous But Clingy' is a 30 prelude to an
argument with your girlfriend that would last for a week before you eventually
back down.
Ben Fuller, for he is Shifting
Buffalo, has a fairly thin voice that doesn't inspire or rouse the passions but
he does have a fairly eclectic approach to music which I fully support. 'Wake!'
is a mid paced rock ballad, ' The Metro Shuffle' is an acoustic
singer-songwriter staple and 'If I Were A Massless Photon' is a home produced
soft-rock ditty that Brian Cox probably played keyboards on (the annoying
Science guy, not the actor). On 'Nothing To The Party' there is some fairly
painful guitar soloing from the outset before the seven minute odyssey of
'Daddy's Girl' starts of like a Led Zep classic before settling in to a
prog-punk riff with wibbling synths in the background for the first real moment
of interest on the album. On 'Gone', Fuller returns to the balladeering while
'As Well As Can Be Expected' is 71 seconds of non-descript strumming that
couldn't really hold my attention.
'Soap Box' is a tune penned by the sadly
deceased Jon Walker but fits in well with the general feel of the album. On
'You Have Returned' Fuller uses a simple piano melody to great effect but the
insipid vocals and bland melodies soon quash any spirit the song had. The album
finishes up with 'Advice in 13/4' and all I can say is that I won't be
listening to the album again. It's not bad or out of tune or offensive, it's
more that Shifting Buffalo is on the bland side of indie-rock which, in a world
with so many musicians, just seems like a waste of everyone's time. Noble
intentions but not beautifully delivered.
More information: www.shiftingbuffalo.com
Live Dates:
13th September - Balstock Festival, Hertfordshire