Review of 3 Album by Buffalo Killers

I always get terribly conflicted feelings when reviewing blatant retro-rock albums. On the one hand, they bring nothing new or particularly imaginative to the table, but on the other, what is necessarily wrong with that? 3 by Buffalo Killers offers up another chance to postulate on your position on retro rock albums.

Buffalo Killers 3 Album

What you get on 3, is a likeable enough homage to 1970s California rock, with dabs of sun-kissed psychedilia thrown in for good measure. Huma Bird, the 5 minute opener sets the stall out perfectly with a chord driven, 4 on the floor plod, with the occasional flash of a lead guitar lick. It's not a million miles from The Eagles or even some of Led Zeppelin's more chilled out moments.

Elsewhere on the album is very much more of the same, with added riffs on Circle Day, a lap steel thrown in on Jon Jacob, and vocals that sit somewhere between Robert Plant and Ozzy Osbourne. It is all pleasant enough I suppose, but who is going to remember it in 10 years' time? Wouldn't you rather go back to Hotel California: a classic of the genre that Buffalo Killers happily emulate?

All in all, 3 is a pleasant enough listen, if you just want wholesome plodding rock music. The problem is, it has all been done before, so is there any place for it?

Ben Walton


Site - http://www.buffalokillers.com

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