I can tell you that there are a few certainties in this world that will always hold true when discussing Buffalo’s Every Time I Die: They will always have fun doing what they do, they love their Buffalo Bills, vocalist Keith Buckley could easily take anyone on in a game of “Your Mama!” and they will always release great music.
Every single release from this merry group of rabble-rousers is anticipated because the band never looks back. Every album is the musical equivalent of Christmas morning, and Low Teens, the band’s eight full-length, is yet another wonderful present.
Low Teens continues the journey that the band has embarked on over the course of the past few years; that of a focused aggression that pushes the establishment of dirty southern rock n’ roll played by a group of hardcore-influenced metal fans. This album is a gritty and catchy blend of disgustingly heavy songs and by far their most aggressive. Yes, even more so than Ex-Lives.
Opening with “Fear and Trembling,” which could very much land on a Crowbar record, the record continues to move at a steady, uncompromising pace. Low Teens is on “Go” from the very first note. No breaks in this record whatsoever. “Two Summers” provides us with a vestige of their evolution, a three and half minute clean vocal led groove-filled track, which is what they do best. “It Remembers” is another track that throws a slight curveball into the mix, but again, this seesawing style in their sound is what keeps fans loving what they do.
Thanks to producer Will Putney, Low Teens is delivered in a well-polished, bass heavy/de-tuned package that, again, is different from what we have ever heard the band deliver. New drummer Daniel Davison fits right at home, adding a bit more grace to the attack, while guitarists Jordan Buckley and Andy Williams complement Davison’s precision of push and pull right hand attacks and bending guitar notes slide along the rumbles of Steve Micciche’s bass. Keith Buckley once again fills the album with tattoo-ready one-liners, and contemplative passages that are the stitch of what keeps Every Time I Die sewn together.
Low Teens is an incredible album. It moves a little faster than their previous efforts, but somehow is more memorable. What a band, what a record!
(released September 23, 2016 on Epitaph Records)
