Buddie

A massive cavalcade of sound and fervor, Buddie’s debut EP Change of Scenery is a refreshing dip in the deep end of raw DIY hard rock. Whether you’re on your own or in the company of friends, lounging in one place or on the go, Buddie’s music offers an engaging soundtrack full of energy for all of life’s moments.

Independently released January 11, 2019, Change of Scenery introduces Philadelphia four-piece Buddie with just the right amount of overdrive, drone, lyrical wit and cultural references. Consisting of principal songwriter Daniel Forrest, Brian Thomas (bass), Danielle Farley (guitar/vox), and David Dean (drums), Buddie pride themselves in making “fuzzy, poppy, punk rock songs about life as a young adult.”

In premiering Change of Scenery‘s second single “Sink” in December, Atwood Magazine praised Buddie’s music as having “a heavy hard rock edge, but a soft core at heart.”

The band’s songs are incredibly relatable for those of us with socially awkward pasts or presents, and those of us who are just trying to figure this “life” thing out day by day.
They’re like a young 1990s Weezer, just figuring things out and otherwise making it up as they go along — only in this case, it’s with an incredibly keen mind for lyrical vulnerability and fuzzy, jammy rock goodness.

How can I live with myself
Not helping anyone else?
With selflessness on my mind
But I stay wasting my time
I just can’t live like this no more
– “Sloth,” Buddie

Change of Scenery begins with “Sloth,” a slow-building self-deprecative reflection with the desire to be better, and do better. Much of Buddie’s music is built on observing the flaws we tend to ignore in ourselves (see closer “Privileged Youth” for the best example of this in action). Meanwhile, the aforementioned “Sink” provides a feelgood moment of raw rock that builds on themes of social anxiety, awkwardness, and acceptance — largely in that order. It’s a millennial underdog anthem – as funny as it is heartfelt.

With a grungy chord progression and an underlying aggressive punch, “Selva” is Buddie’s moment of pop/rock crossover gold. They do their best Nirvana impression while staying true to their sound — a testament, perhaps, to just how talented this group of musicians are, and how expressive they can be. “Selva” could be an underground hit if it wanted to be, so tell your hard rock aficianado friends about it and let’s start a movement.

“Anxty” is Buddie’s drone-heavy moment — the point on the record where energy builds to that cacophonic peak, and everything comes tumbling down. An feverish garage jam, the track pivots between softer moments of introspection and monstrous explosions of guitar. Danielle Farley’s guitar work shines particularly bright in this track; she wails an aching cry through the axe, elevating a poignant low moment to truly gorgeous heights.

Buddie’s debut EP concludes with the deftly-titled “Privileged Youth,” a chugging rock song that races to the finish at high speeds. Even at their most unhinged, Buddie are always in control – and they display as such with a mid-song change-up, bringing their run down to a jog and giving every instrument its moment in the sun.

We’re left with the distinct feeling that, given the time and resources, Buddie could be the next big American rock band. They care, and they’re not afraid to show it; they’re self-aware, and neither paranoid nor obsessed; and of course, they make some truly kick-ass songs. Buddie probably want to be your friend, so get yourself down to Philly and come out to a show! In the meantime, you can make the most of your time with their excellent first five songs.

Experience the full record below, and peek inside Buddie’s Change of Scenery EP with Atwood Magazine as Dan Forrest goes track-by-track through the music and lyrics of Buddie’s debut!

Sloth

"This song came about after a period of introspection when I realized that every action (or lack thereof) I take has an impact on the people around me. I regularly thought about how I might mitigate these grand-scale, global problems (e.g. climate change) during my life, but I lost sight of local, socially-oriented issues and particularly the way my actions might affect my closest friends and family. I especially thought about gender roles, and how I unknowingly bought into them with my chosen division of labor with my partner, and tried to make a conscious effort to counteract that. The song is a reminder to myself: quit lazing around, spacing out, staring at my phone or any screen, and be active at home, at work, and in my community."

Sink

"The song is about any awkward moment during social interactions, especially around new groups. I like to make jokes and be silly, but when I’m in a new group and those jokes fall flat, I feel like a dweeb. The video tried to recreate a particular night when I showed up to a friend of a friend’s house, sat around a fire, and it felt like every comment was misperceived."

Selva

"I wrote this song when I was at a crossroads in my life and career. I was working for a non-profit in Equatorial Guinea focused on the conservation of biodiversity on Bioko Island, and near the end of my year-long contract with them, I was given the opportunity to stick around and potentially take on a new role with the program. It was an incredible, action-packed year, I studied awe-inspiring wildlife (look up Drill monkeys for a personal favorite), learned to speak fluent Spanish, and navigated complex personal and professional relationships, so this was not a decision I took lightly. I thoroughly enjoyed my time with the program, and I miss the people, environment, wildlife, and food almost every day, but with only an acoustic guitar, a digital Tascam recorder, and nowhere to play, I missed playing music more. Selva, a Spanish word I used frequently to talk about our research and when teaching, is the personification of the forest."

Anxty

"This is about my best friend going through a rough patch. It’s a love song about simultaneously supporting someone and allowing them to fight their own battles: trying to find humor in it, and being encouraging, but not demeaning."

Privileged Youth

"This song is about acknowledging our place in the world, the fact that the circumstances we’re born into greatly impact our freedom, our aspirations, and needs on a daily and life-long basis. Born into a middle-class family in a town with a great public education system, with the ability to attend college and work in whichever industry I wanted, I have privileges that so many cannot afford. The verses mention a few things I struggled with over the course of about a week: getting locked out of my apartment on the way to work, borrowing a car to go to work since I didn’t have my keys, getting in a car accident, going to court over said accident. The chorus puts these small struggles into perspective. I had so many conversations over a short period of time with people of a similar socioeconomic background and age talking about work, bills, car problems, conflicts with landlords, and after a while I started to feel ridiculous talking about our daily struggles – especially in the current political climate. Let’s get over it already – we have the upper hand, we have safety nets, let’s do something more than complain about our minor hardships. I’m trying to hold myself accountable to this one" - Atwood Magazine

They’re not your friend, buddy — but they could be! From Screech to The Office’s Toby Flenderson, Milhouse Van Houten, most Michael Cera roles and beyond, our televisions and silver screens have exposed a receptive audience to dozens of lovably awkward personalities and quirky characters. While they may at times seem the outcast, they are also intimately relatable as we watch them navigate a world that’s not so different from our own. Philadelphia’s Buddie emerge today with the catchy “Sink,” a raw feelgood rock song about social anxiety, awkwardness, and acceptance that reminds us of some of millennial entertainment’s favorite awkward icons.

Sink - Buddie
Sink – Buddie

I’m out with all my friends
Sit in circles, we intend
To all relate a bit
Share our feelings talk some shit
But we can’t help but judge
And thus repeats the cycle
Hold your grudge
And now I feel like shit
Holding hands as we sink to the bottom
Atwood Magazine is proud to be premiering “Sink,” Buddie’s second single release and the latest song off their upcoming debut EP Change of Scenery. A four-piece band from Philadelphia fronted by Daniel Forrest, Buddie make “fuzzy, poppy, punk rock songs about life as a young adult.” Forrest was formerly a drummer for Philadelphia band TWIIN and more recently, a conservation biologist working in Bioko, a small island in Equatorial Guinea, Central Africa. Since returning to Philadelphia, Forrest has completed a permanent Buddie lineup with the recruitment of Brian Thomas (bass), Danielle Farley (guitar/vox), and David Dean (drums), and the band’s debut EP is well underway.

Buddie’s music has a heavy hard rock edge, but a soft core at heart. The band’s songs are incredibly relatable for those of us with socially awkward pasts or presents, and those of us who are just trying to figure this “life” thing out day by day. The band’s first song “Vivacious Crush” evokes their inherent joie de vivre and sonic intensity, ultimately sounding like a cross between Weezer, Nirvana, and Stone Temple Pilots (yup).

Diving further into their grunge-iest qualities, “Sink” finds Buddie raw and exposed. “‘Sink’ is about the social anxiety of joining an unfamiliar crowd and making new friends,” Dan Forrest tells Atwood Magazine. “I think everyone has, at least once, been so awkward, weird, or misunderstood that they didn’t feel like themselves, or that they made the wrong impression. We wanted to make this feeling into a lighthearted song that everyone can relate to, laugh at, and sing along to.”

“Sink” comes to a peak in an absurdly memorable chorus featuring a slew of faces from the past two decades – characters Forrest and those of his generation know all too well:

Oh no, I’m feeling like I’m Michael Cera
Oh no, I’m feeling like Elijah Wood
Oh no, I’m feeling like
I’m Toby from The Office
Oh no, I’m okay

It’s a chorus you’ll be repeating for days. Though he’s made a valiant attempt to break out in his most recent work, Michael Cera was for years the poster-child for awkwardness. From Arrested Development‘s George Michael Bluth to Juno’s Paulie Bleeker, Superbad‘s Evan and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World‘s title character, Cera is the perfect candidate to start Buddie’s memorable awkward chant (which, in the second verse, features That ’70s Show‘s Eric Forman, 30 Rock‘s Liz Lemon, and once again, Toby from the Office.

Directed by Andrew Silverman of Bigmouth Philly, Buddie’s accompanying “Sink” music video enhances the song experience with a homegrown depiction of your classic backyard hangout – the sort of scene where, as the lyrics suggest, you go in not knowing most people and discover, once again, how hard it can be to fit in.

Wear my heart on my sleeve
But it’s not cool to be naïve
And now I look a fool
While everyone else tries to be called cool
I get excited sometimes
And then I want to speak my mind
Instead I feel like shit
And now I look a fool, while everyone else tries to be called cool.

If we can take away anything from Buddie’s “Sink,” it’s that most of us really are just figuring things out as we go. We shouldn’t rest our laurels on first impressions, overthink things, or put too much pressure on ourselves. Quite frankly, to hell with those who can’t accept us for who we are, and open their hearts to someone who feels uncomfortable in a new setting. They’re not worth socializing with, anyhow.

It’s unclear how much Buddie set out to praise our awkwardness vs. to merely express their own feelings of discomfort and self-doubt, but the result is undeniably strong: The young Philadelphia band have delivered a stellar underdog anthem in “Sink,” reminding us to accept and even embrace our most cringe-worthy, cover-your-face-in-embarrassment awkward turtle moments.

Stream “Sink” exclusively on Atwood Magazine, and feel like Michael Cera. They may not be your guy, friend, but they’ll be your buddie, pal. - Atwood Magazine

Songwriter Dan Forrest found himself in a vast variety of locales over the past two years, from West Africa to Southwest Philly. As such, the songs he wrote for his indie four-piece Buddie‘s new EP Change of Scenery adds a wide and varied lyrical perspective to their explorations of Pavement-via-(Sandy) Alex G fuzz rock.

As Forrest tells us, he began working on the EP’s five songs while he was working as a conservation biologist in Equatorial Guinea — the shimmering, Britpop-toned “Selva” and Weezer-ish cruncher “Anxty” — and wrote the newest of them just before recording last winter in their Grays Avenue practice space and studio with Keith Abrams — the wailing opener “Sloth” and the hooky fun of “Sink.” The songs meditate on self-discovery, personal growth, friendship, and empathy, with closer “Privileged Youth” an honest look at acknowledging one’s position in the world, and using that to inform how we interact with others.

Since wrapping production on the project, Buddie has come together as a live band with guitarist Danielle Farley, bassist Brian Thomas, and drummer David Dean joining Forrest onstage. Change of Scenery releases on cassette this Friday, January 11th, via Super Wimpy Punch, but you can take an exclusive first listen to it below. The band plays a record release on Friday, January 12th, at Super Wimpy Punch HQ in South Philadelphia (more information here); it also has a January 26th show at The Soda Bar with Median and Tea head (info here). - WXPN's The Key

The party’s over and you’re walking home in the cold January air, barely warmed by that last drink. You fumble through your jacket pockets for your earbuds that you hastily untangle and tune into that new Buddie EP and, soon enough, you’re home. “Change of Scenery” encapsulates that familiar jaded feeling of a dissatisfied cold walk home, touching base on feelings of inadequacy, ambivalence, and spectatorship to the tune of fuzzy overdriven guitars and 90’s songwriting conventions.

Philadelphia’s Buddie has been cranking out high volume bummer rock jams and their first EP, released through Boston label Super Wimpy Punch, shows promising consistency in tone and output. The band is tonally aligned with the grunge revival movement while adding their own signature high gain fuzzy walls of sound and dynamic songwriting. The EP’s opening track, “Sloth” begins with a dissonant affirmation, “I’m a sloth; run down”, followed by a quiet-yet-blown out chord reminiscent of that burnt out Marshall cab you couldn’t get repaired before the gig. The band plays with a conflation between dynamic, blown out noise and pure driven crunchy power pop riffs, keeping their songs from falling into the standard grunge formula. “Sink” romps through a very traditional verse-chorus-solo-bridge formula, playing with clean verses and big overdriven choruses, punctuating a painfully ironic hook, “oh no, I’m feeling like Toby from The Office/oh no, I’m okay.” Grungy bop “Anxty” starts with a distant jangled bass hook that sinks into a chuggy banger that wallows in, well, angst.

Lyrically, Buddie sings to the kids who want to go out but don’t want to go out; kids who take the leap but have had their wings clipped once or twice before. It’s possible, but why bother? In “Selvia”, frontman Daniel Forrest croons relatably over chorus laden guitar, “swallowed by ‘should I come or should I go’”. Buddie knows the banal adversity of everyday life– the onion layers of getting out of the bedroom and then the house and then the car, but as grey as it all seems, it could be worse. The closing track fittingly titled, “Privileged Youth” wails out a surly reminder, “I know you’re working, everyone’s working/but can’t you see we have the upper hand/it can be hard/but we’re always alright/as the privileged youth.” Amid the group’s searing hooks and bummed out guitar leads, there is both the exaltation of the bleaker bits of the millennial condition as well as a recognization of, “hey– it could be worse.”

“Change of Scenery” is a promising debut EP that is as musically dynamic as is emotionally conscious. Poignant lyrics and interesting songwriting keeps Buddie’s grunge influences fresh without being totally rote, which is quite customary in a genre so enraptured with reference and nostalgia. You can listen to this album at a party, blithely talking smack with your drunk friends or walking home in the blustery winter, fuzzed out on that last PBR and Buddie’s eclectic jams. - The Boston Hassle

If you’re looking for some new tunes to rock out to this New Music Friday, look no further than Philly’s own Buddie.

The four-piece band writes pop/rock songs about life as a young adult, social anxiety, environmentalism and just trying to be a good person in this crazy world.

Their recently released single and video, “Sink,” features driving guitars, a catchy hook and lyrical shoutouts to Michael Cera, Elijah Wood and Tony from “The Office.”

And there’s more where that came from as Buddie has a full EP that’s been released: “Change of Scenery.”

According to frontman, Daniel Forrest, much of the EP was influenced by his time in working as a conservation biologist in Bioko (a small island in Equatorial Guinea, Central Africa) and readjusting to life in Philadelphia.

You can stream the full EP here. - Rock On Philly

“How can I live with myself not helping anyone else?” As the flurry of distorted guitars reach their blaring crescendo on opening track Sloth,vocalist Dan Forrest of Philadelphia alternative outfit Buddiesets the tone with just one line. Once a conservation biologist in Equatorial Guinea, Forrest now spends his time writing fuzz rock in the vein of Pavement and early Weezer, though where his forebears made their careers writing about unrequited love, on Change of Scenery Forrest instead writes songs that are much more uniquely conscious. They may still be dorky, but only in the sense that anything passionate that isn’t drenched in cynicism isn’t patently “cool” in 2019.

Second track and early stand-out Sinktouches on exactly that: “Wear my heart on my sleeve / But it’s not cool to be naïve / And now I look a fool / While everyone else tries to be called cool.”It’s a shockingly vulnerable lyric for a song that eventually builds into an infectious power-pop hook centered on the lyric, “Oh no, I’m feeling like I’m Michael Cera.” But that is precisely the magic and strength of Forrest’s songwriting; he writes songs that deal with big-picture problems in a tone that is strikingly modest and good-natured. Though his background gives him plenty of room to preach, he never patronizes the listener. Even his most confrontational lines come out more earnest than angry, because at the heart of these songs there is more carethan there is angst. That posturing sets Buddiein a corner all their own in the world of fuzz rock, a genre usually reserved for the slacker, the stoner, and the lackadaisical character motifs.

Nowhere is this difference more apparent than in the anthemic closer Privileged Youthwhere Forrest grapples with his position of advantage as a white American, capping it off with the pseudo-psychedelic bridge: “The institutions are racist / The institutions are bigots / The institutions are fascists / And I reap the rewards / And they keep the poor poor.” Lyrically it’s more akin to early Anti-Flagthan Weezer, but even here at his most direct and unapologetic Forrest chooses to appeal to humanity first and foremost, concluding his thought with one last run of the chorus: “…It’s the same road everyone’s walking / There’s no traffic from here / I know you’re working, everyone’s working / But can’t you see we have the upper-hand? …” It’s a breath of fresh air from a perspective not often found in fuzz rock or even alternative as a whole.

Change of Scenery is much more than a rare endearing, political album, however. Beyond it’s thoughtful lyrics, its true strength is that it’s also just a kickass rock record. There are enough cathartic choruses, huge chords, and tasteful tempo changes to keep casual and critical listeners alike engaged and satisfied from start to finish. It’s proof that you don’t have to play it cool and put on a sullen demeanor to make impactful art. On Change of Scenery, Buddienever miss a second of fun while making their point; it’s the kind of album equally as conducive to guitar flips as it is to inspiring contemplation.

If there is one weak spot on the EP, it would probably be the middle track Selva,which has the misfortune of falling between two of the hookiest songs on the album Sink and Anxty. It’s not a bad song by any means, an internal monologue about leaving the Equatorial rain forest after experiencing so much personal growth there and then trying to re-adjust to life in America, but it is the lone song that doesn’t reward the listener with an immediate earworm of a hook. Considering that’s the worst thing I can say about this EP, it’s pretty fair to say that Buddie nailed their debut.

All in all the new EP from Buddie is a clear stand-out within its genre, a fresh voice and perspective from a talented new songwriter with a dynamic musical core as his vehicle. Change of Scenery is as fun as it is earnest, a raucous album intent on engaging the world rather than escaping it, a thoroughly enjoyable musical paradox. We can’t wait to see what this promising young band does next. - Not A Sound

Buddie, the fuzzed-out Philly powerpop project of Dan Forest, just dropped its debut EP Change of Scenery. The origins of the songs began while Forest was employed as a conservation biologist in Bioko (a small island in Equatorial Guinea, Central Africa), and have been fleshed out in the Grays Ferry studio of Keith Abrams (Pine Barons, Tremellow), who is responsible for mixing the album. The cassette is now available via Super Wimpy Punch, and the band will be rockin' the label's South Philly headquarters tomorrow evening to celebrate its arrival. They'll also be joined by Qwark, Swim Camp, and Vermont's Yellowfront. - The Deli Magazine