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Buffalo Moon offer first taste of new ‘Machista’

  Play Now [1:17]

by Jon Schober

March 27, 2013

 

When's the last time we heard from Buffalo Moon? It's hard to believe we're coming up on the two-year mark, but the band is slowly coming out of hibernation with their third album, Machista.

Back in April of 2010, they quickly emerged as one of the more beloved acts in the Twin Cities. Fresh off a particularly hardcore winter, their brand of jangly tropicalia ushered in a much welcomed spring and a new style that hadn’t been explored too thoroughly in the music community. Debut Wetsuit was well-received across the board, and the quintet hooked up with Moon Glyph to release their Black Magic/Low Tide Moon 7”. From there, the buzz continued to swell, with “Low Tide Moon” appearing on numerous blogs across the world.

Buffalo Moon had one pivotal added advantage: their audience wasn’t pigeonholed to just English speakers. Given lead singer Karen Freire’s Ecuadorian heritage, many of the band’s songs featured Spanish lyrics that gave them clout in Central and South America. Sophomore album Selva Surreal saw them explore a more psychedelic sound that served as a thoughtful and complex extension.

It’s obvious, though, that there was a disconnect between what people came to expect with their 7” and what ended up making the cut on Selva Surreal. “Low Tide Moon” was a lo-fi experiment that fit in nicely with the flavor of the month in the 2011's music world. When Buffalo Moon went back into the studio to record their follow-up, the production got slicker and more focused, but recording was notably long and arduous. So the band did what anyone would do to decompress: take a vacation.

An extended stay in Ecuador and Peru gave the group plenty of time to write new songs, play around town and soak in the sun. The result is Machista. Two years after Selva Surreal, it sounds like a re-introduction of Buffalo Moon to the music community. The best of both of their previous two records have been combined to create their most accessible songs yet. However, they aren't quite done yet. The release date is scheduled for sometime in July, but like many local bands recently, they’re taking advantage of crowd-sourcing platform Kickstarter to fund the mixing and mastering after recording the album at Hideaway Studio in Northeast.

That deadline is approaching in two weeks, and we’ve got the first taste of Machista below. “Quemame Quemate” zips by in just over a minute. And really, that’s all the time Buffalo Moon needs to get across the slick arrangement. More than ever, every musician in the band gets equal shine on this track. Take a listen below, and get the scoop on Machista over on their Kickstarter page.

 

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This activity is made possible in part by the Minnesota Legacy Amendment’s Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund.