Ghost Buffalo
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Ghost Buffalo

| INDIE

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Band Alternative Rock

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"Aversion.com review"

Maybe it’s because of its frontier and cow-town heritage, but Denver and the Colorado front range boast an impressive – and impressively diverse – alt-country scene, with everyone from the morose 16 Horsepower to the whiskey-soaked revivalists of Slim Cessna’s Auto Club to the honky-tonk harmonies of Drag the River covering pretty much all the alt-country bases.

It’s time to add another act, Ghost Buffalo, to the long line of Denver alt-country heroes. More traditional alt-country – or country-rock as they used to call it – than most of its hometown neighbors, Ghost Buffalo saddles up the alt-country ponies, but makes no bones about its love for rock’n’roll. Led by singer/guitarist Marie Litton, who sports a delivery that’s something like a hip and aware twist on Emmylou Harris’ classic pipes, Ghost Buffalo wraps up all the morose longing, energetic abandon and pop-friendly hooks of its country-rock brethren in Litton’s vocals alone. Demonstrating the sort of range that should make her a favorite of everyone from grumpy No Depression hard-liners to casual alt-country pop heads, Litton invests Ghost Buffalo with a slew of charms. With a grasp on everything from torch-ballad soul (“Pick Me Up”)and a rocker’s poise and confidence (“Crawl”) to a dyed-in-the-wool country crooner (“Hell Here” and “Ruin Everything”), Litton’s vocals add an easy immediacy none of her Colorado cow-punk contemporaries can match.

Ghost Buffalo is more than a great voice, however. Using alt-country as a vague, open-ended format, Ghost Buffalo brings its rootsy twang to arenas usually untouched by the hand of Americana. Outside a country-banging guitar lead, “Crows Feet” is pure late-’90s indie, calling up visions of everyone from Sarge to Beezus, and the messy-around-the-edges feel of “Ice Queen” place shimmering shoegazing aesthetics to work atop country-road rhythms. The five-piece sticks to the power-pop meets country formula of alt-country favorites in tracks like “Crawl,” “Hollow” and “Ruin Everything” as acoustic and electric guitars bop, two-step and twirl through pop melodies, roots guitar figures and outright country rhythms without kowtowing to the alt-country status quo.

Although Ghost Buffalo doesn’t pack the hipster-approved melancholy of Munly, Slim Cessna or 16 Horsepower, the act’s debut marks it as an equally important band. For the first time in recent history, Denver has an alt-rock band that isn’t afraid to embrace everyday pop and rock influences.
- Matt Schild
- www.aversion.com


"RIYL: Wilco, the Forecast, Emmylou Harris"

Reviewed by: John-Michael Bond [Mon, February 13, 2006 @ 11:26:30 PM]

Ghost Buffalo’s debut full length reminds me of good whiskey. Both are smooth, but have a comforting burn to them that lingers long after your sample is gone. During depressing times I can see myself finding comfort in both, probably at the same time. But mostly it’s because like good whiskey Ghost Buffalo reminds you how bad the generic stuff really is.

Here’s the thing. Ghost Buffalo breaks exactly no new ground. They’re pretty straight forward country inspired rock and roll. What makes this album so memorable is the passion and heartbreaking soul of vocalist Marie Litton. Channeling the spirit of Emmylou Harris and Joni Mitchell is no small feat but Litton pulls it off with shinning colors. The fact that the rest of the band (including Plans Mistaken for Stars’ ex-axe man) kicks out the country flavored indie rock jams without ever being over shadowed or over shadowing is a testament to the bands cohesive sound. It’s rare when you hear a group that sounds this connected, but Ghost Buffalo sounds like they’ve been writing together for years.

This is a record for the whole family. Not in a PAX movie of the week sort of way, more gather the family around the fire and finally all agree on something to listen to. There is something that will appeal to pretty much everyone, except your metal head little brother, but no one cares about him anyway (It’s ok; it makes his angst deeper). Take a shot kids; this is the good stuff. (Ed. By take a shot I mean listen to the music. No drinking until you're 21 or you are sooooo grounded mister!)

8.9 out of 10
RIYL: Wilco, the Forecast, Emmylou Harris
www.ghostbuffalo.com - www.mammothpress.com


Discography

Ghost Buffalo S/t CD
Ghost Buffalo Little Thunder Ep (free demo download)

Photos

Bio

Denver has already fallen hard for singer Marie Litton. Westword, the city's alternative newsmagazine, has named her the best frontwoman in town, raving about how well her "soaring, haunting voice" fits the group's "heartache-weary country rock". Litton's singing finds the middle ground between the icy placidity of Jesse Sykes and the plaintive, pop-friendly approachability of Sarah Shannon of Velocity Girl. She animates these stories of late-night longing and doomed long-distance romance with poise, grace, and a rare emotional complexity. While her songwriting is the indisputable heart of Ghost Buffalo, her accompanyists (several of whom, including guitarist Matt Bellinger, have logged time in Planes Mistaken For Stars) find the elusive intersection between twang and stomp with unerring precision.
"Hell Here", the lead single from Ghost Buffalo, is perhaps their most representative track - and the one that foregrounds the group's twin influences most effectively. The song begins as a scratchy field recording unearthed from a time capsule buried at the foot of the Rockies might: strained, aching, weirdly fascinating. But by the end of the first verse, the production has changed, and the vibrant color of Ghost Buffalo's sound is made manifest. Litton, channeling her most desperate hour, spins a dark-night-of-the-soul tale that caresses the listener like a chilly wind. Sleepless and haunted, she drags herself down hallways, head in hands, searching for a voice of hope.
Ghost Buffalo's debut album isa sign of many great things to come.