King Buffalo - Dead Star (CD)

Dead Star sees the band leave behind the earthbound considerations of the natural world and blast off, if gently, into space. The opening epic, ‘Red Star Pt 1&2’ emerges slowly, with synth pulses, sparse, delicate guitar figures and slow tribal drumming from Scott Donaldson, as vocalist Sean McVay’s voice drifts in like a cloud of comic dust. Within five minutes it is obvious we are back in classic King Buffalo territory as the band build drama and texture effortlessly. This is one of the key talents of the band – songs never wallow or stagnate despite an air of Zen-like calm, the music progresses organically, everything perfectly judged. After about ten minutes the guitars of McVay become more strident, sounding like a classic Lizzy twin guitar melody and then the song punches through the ether, the lyric more angry as Donaldson puts a simple heavy beat down and bassist Dan Reynolds matches him while McVay solos and riffs heroically. It’s not a style we’re used to hearing from King Buffalo and I find it a bit jarring at first as it apes King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard circa Murder of the Universe just a little too closely for comfort. It does show the band branching out and of course they do it brilliantly, the whole thing is a triumph, and perhaps it’s wrong to expect every move they make to be wholly original.