Simon RushworthBuffalo Summer – Second Sun (UDR)
Genre: Classic Rock
It was October 2014, inside a tiny Newcastle club on a bill including Aussie upstarts Massive and headliners The Treatment, that the brilliant Buffalo Summer convinced us of their undeniable pedigree and huge potential.
Showcasing new songs Heartbreakin’ Floorshakin’ and Make You Mine, the Welsh quartet offered a tantalising glimpse of a fabulous future – both songs feature prominently on Second Sun and the future is now.
Incredibly, the Buffalo boys had yet to ink a deal for the follow-up to their supreme self-titled debut back then but the bidding war was already underway and UDR emerged as the lucky winners.
What they bought into – as well as some of the most affecting British rock and roll we’ve heard in a decade – is a work ethic and refreshing approach to making music that can’t be taught or manufactured. Buffalo Summer are the complete package and it’s little wonder the sparkling Second Sun has already been hailed by Gunner Duff McKagan as one of the records of the year.
Frontman Andrew Hunt still sounds remarkably like Toby Jepson – especially on the horn-infused Little Charles – but he’s added a deeper, bluesier tone to much of his band’s best work here. Buffalo Summer launch their bid to become the UK’s answer to Rival Sons on bullish opener Money and the stirring Levitate is a power ballad par excellence.
There’s emotive Americana (Swansea style) on Levitate and plenty of Southern Rock and country-influence twists and turns to keep the most demanding fan guessing.
Buffalo Summer always had an album like Second Sun in their locker. Nevertheless, nobody could have predicted something quite so special.
RUSHONROCK RATED: 10/10 Sun Is Shining