I struggle to understand the long-reaching influence of  Tom Petty.  Granted, I enjoyed Petty in my formative years just as much as everyone else did, but “Refugee” didn’t make me want to pick up a Telecaster and start writing mediocre songs. (Somebody had to buy all of the records that dude sold; you’ve got a copy of Into the Great Wide Open just like the rest of us.  Don’t try to pretend you don’t.  I have the decency to be mildly ashamed of it, but I’m not going to deny Tom’s existence in my life.)  Don’t Be Scared, the debut from Manchester, England’s its a buffalo (no capitals, no apostrophe, more on that later) bears the thumbprint of a wide array of influences, but Tom Petty’s jumps out of the speakers in the stellar and anthemic “Outlines,” the best homage to “American Girl” I’ve heard in a good while. (To clarify, everyone rips off “American Girl” at some point.  I’ll go to the grave arguing that The Strokes should have been paying royalties for “Last Night.”)  While “Outlines” is the most obvious touchstone, this English quartet are taking the best bits of American music and jamming them together in an entertaining and impressive pastiche.

There are a few quirks about its a buffalo to get out of the way before diving into closer discussion of the album itself.  The principal thing is the exclusion of the apostrophe in the band’s name.  I’m cool with neglecting capital letters (e.b. white is my homeboy, after all), but the elimination of the apostrophe is a slight which is difficult for me to overlook.  “its a buffalo” is clearly non-grammatical; “its buffalo” would work, but the manner of construction the band went with clearly requires the apostrophe.  I’m a total dork about this stuff.  Unclear pronouns, dangling modifiers, over-used adverbs and the like all make my skin crawl.  All this to say that its a buffalo started out in the hole with me.  The record is good enough to get me to see past my prescriptive biases, which is saying a lot.  Secondly, these fellows don’t appear to have last names.  I’m not sure if this is because England did away with last names (I’m horrid with geography and such) or if I was just unable to turn up their last names on the internet.  This strikes me as a plus, giving the band a bit of hipster cool, allowing for exchanges like the following:  “Who are you?”  “I’m Nigel, I’m in a band.  Piss off.”  No last names needed there.

While a significant portion of the record features jangly, trebly guitars reminiscent of the towheaded fellow mentioned earlier, there’s a certain amount of punk rock sneer and swagger across many of the songs as well, which is most noticeable in the vocals.  Ben and Steve both play guitar and sing, often crafting sweet call and response vocals which recall both The Clash (not being blasphemous here, just saying that there are two dudes singing and that’s the most obvious example of another place that worked) and, strangely, Run-DMC.  The backing vocal has an emotionally strained quality that gives the listener the sense that the band cares about the words, while the interplay of the two voices hints at an “It’s Tricky”-esque synergy.  It’s one of the album’s more endearing touches and is particulalrly highlighed in both the verses and chorus of “Somewhere in Range.”  That track’s indicative of the general vibe of the album, almost perfectly encapsulated by the first “whoo” at the two-minute mark.  The other most obvious punk touch is the backing vocals in “Climb Climb,” comprised of a shouted, emphatic “climb, climb, climb.”  If you don’t hear echos of classic punk there, you’re deaf.

There are ten tracks on Don’t Be Scared, clocking in at a brisk 33 minutes; its a buffalo get in, develop an idea and get out.  There’s no self-serving fifteen-minute instrumental track here.  It’s all tight and focused.  This highlights the quality of the songs.  For the most part, they’re direct rock songs , but they’re well written and interesting.  (That Tom Petty thing at the front might be truer than I’d like to admit.)  It’s the kind of album that doesn’t have highlights, per se.  It’s a collection of remarkably consistent tracks; it’s tough to grab a favorite.  That said, it’s worth mentioning a few tracks of particular note.  “Divorce Song” integrates a cool bell sound that punctuates the slightly less frenetic pace of the track, which features lyrics which are clearly spiteful, but difficult to decode.  “Bang! On the Seafront” devloves into a power-chord fest about two-thirds of the way through, providing the toe-tappingest moment on the record.  The celebratory back and forth of “Run and Hide” (Run!  Hide!  Run!  Hide!)  to close the album out is killer.  “Outlines” is insanely catchy; it’s three-minutes of mildly subverted classic rock that is nearly impossible not to love.

its a buffalo is an easy to understand rock record; we’ve been lobbing some difficult records at you of late, things that squelch the elemental joy of music-making for a more cerebral bent, sacrificing Pan for Athena, if you want to get all mythical with it.  There’s room on your shelf for both.  Sometimes, you need to think, sometimes you want to take off the t-tops and cruise around town.  its a buffalo is available today, right in time for warmer weather.  Grab it (this one isn’t on insound yet, so the record label might be your best bet) and turn the volume up.

“Somewhere in Range” – its a buffalo

Score  its a buffalo from their record label.