BUFFET LUNCH are a four-man band from Scotland on a mission to serve up imperfect pop songs with humour and energy, formed into the kaleidoscopic debut album, The Power Of Rocks out today, May 7th, from Upset the Rhythm.
The band consists of Perry O’Bray (vocals/keys/guitars), Neil Robinson (bass), John Muir (lead guitar) and Luke Moran (drums), who came together through a love of all things pop and indie and everything in between and who hail from the two great Scottish cities of Glasgow and Edinburgh.
Together the foursome of constructed a wonky DIY feel to their sound which runs the gamut of emotions from loneliness and downbeat to the upper echelons of breezy melody.
Recorded on the banks of Upper Loch Fyne in Argyll over four nights and five days at the beginning of March 2020, before the world pandemic took hold, there is a sense of living in the moment when listening to the album’s eleven tracks.
A blend of production and musicianship take hold as the run times of songs differ throughout from the sub two minute shouts of “Pebbledash” and “Bladderwrack” combine against the longer, more traditional “Looking at Liz Talent’s Chair” and “Ashley’s New Haircut”.
This encompasses everything with a seemingly brief 38 minutes total run time; yet the melodies and compositions stay with you throughout and after the fact – from the bop and riffing of “He Wore Two Hats”, to the anthemic title track, which embraces the feeling of climate and location of recording that took place.
An album of time and place at once, this is a work that may be difficult to access for many; but people said this of Black Country, New Road at the beginning – when the earworm worthiness of songs take hold it cannot be denied.
For fans of such obscure artists as Sweet Baboo (do check out Wild Imagination from 2017) and those other eclectic bands of the last few years such as BCNR and Pet Shimmers; this is an album that is both mesmerising and engaging.
The Power of Rocks is released on 7th May via Upset the Rhythm; follow the band on Twitter and Instagram.
