Buffalo Killers: s/t

Who needs southern or ’70s rock credibility when you can grow thick hair on every square inch of your head and face? On the self-titled debut from Buffalo Killers, these mountain men open with a spacey mix of White Album melodies and blues-heavy guitar work. And that’s before the Buffalo Killers figure out what they do really well.

Formerly of garage-rock outfit Thee Shams, brothers Andrew and Zachary Gabbard share guitar and bass duties while blending vocal styles — one features a lazy, southern drawl and the other sounds like Robert Plant chewing through a light bulb.

Catching fire at the midway point, “River Water” flows like epic, early ’70s The Who, and “With Love” follows by locking into a stunning blues-rock groove. Opening with the line “Let’s forget about the ’60s,” “Children of War” drops into a Crazy Horse riff; it’s a move that simultaneously recalls Neil Young while erasing the memory of Buffalo Springfield.

The Gabbards and drummer Joseph Sebaali indulge every southern or classic rock temptation along the way, except the inclination to follow the brothers Followill (a.k.a. Kings of Leon). You’ll find no southern-fried dance boogie here; all buffalo killing happens around an acid-soaked campfire. It’s classic rock with cosmic sensibilities.

-Jonathan Easley
Buffalo Killers (Alive Records)