Buke and Gass The Deli's reviews and interviews

It doesn't happen very often that we find out about an emerging rock band that is absolutely mind blowing, both on record and live. Buke and Gass is such a band. This project can be described as a "two man (wall of sound) band" - although one of them is a woman - in the old fashioned meaning of musicians playing several instruments at once while walking around. B+G don't walk while performing (they actually sit) but they still manage to play a multitude of instruments at once while singing: bass, guitar, ukulele, kick drum, snare, tambourine and sleigh bells. Oh, and when we say "at once", we mean it: the players never switch instruments during the performance (to see how they do this, just go to their live shows). The resulting sound, filtered through various pedals and amplified by a stereo pair of funny looking guitar amps, is a truly unique, larger than life wall of detuned bass/guitar/ukulele patterns, counterpointed by kick/snare/tambourine and sleigh bell rhythms.

But what takes this band to the next (ultimate?) level is the songwriting and live performance. Arone Dyer's beautiful vocals and melodies have a tension and tone reminiscent of legendary Throwing Muses - or early PJ Harvey, if you are not familiar with Kirstin Hersh's band - and can reach peaks of altitude I have only heard from Portishead's Beth Gibbons and a few top notch soul singers. Her Buke (a bass ukulele) mostly integrates with decorative and melodic parts Aron Sanchez's asymmetrical "one (crazy) man band rhythm section", mostly product of his Gass - some sort of hybrid between guitar and bass with four outputs. Their live show sounds surprisingly similar... actually - IDENTICAL to what you hear on their record (which is absolutely remarkable, considering the complexity of the material). Their songwriting is often unstructured alternating full blast moments with others more sparse and lyrical. Dyer owns the stage with her quirky presence and adorable smile, a crucial ingredient many uber cool hipster musicians tragically fail to deliver. This is music that can't be ignored. BUY THEIR CD HERE NOW! - PDG - Buke and Gas February 09 CD of the Month review here.