Johnny Brenda's, Feb. 1 - Buke And Gase (Preview)

Aron Sanchez and Aron Dyer, the same-named duo better known as NY piece Buke and Gase, are pulling themselves up. After years of twisting obscurity and figuring out their own mechanized ambitions, the two pieced together the metallic churn of Riposte in 2010.

Despite the size, as I've noted before, the two cull their sounds to seem bigger than themselves. Pedals - pedals everywhere. Watching Aron and Aron live as they maneuver their feet across a staggering amount of extra pieces seems exhausting. In a way, that seemed to be the living appeal of Buke and Gase - so much in such a small scene. The side-effect with Riposte seemed to be, however, stagnation. The band understood what worked but rarely strayed from it.

While the setup remains largely the same, the noise pop constructions on the band's latter two releases - the Function Falls EP and the recent General Dome LP - flirts with the idea of something bigger. The melodies twist into an experimental mesh, not necessarily dragging through to seem overly sensible. The methods are challenging, almost improbable to replicate considered how contorted the band's homemade instrument set is. It's the affirmative move from kitsch to positively unique.

Catch the duo in Philadelphia tomorrow night at Johnny Brenda's. The band will be preceded by fellow art-rockers Ahleuchatistas and Norwegian Arms. Tickets are still available here.

Review: Buke & Gase @ Kung Fu Necktie (Philadelphia, Oct. 11)

The collective description I've heard over and over again of NY duo Buke & Gase is how they can sound larger than the sum of their parts. Sitting calmly in front of a small crowd at Philadelphia's Kung Fu Necktie last night, Arone Dyer and Aron Sanchez moved through subtle rhythms and movements with every appendage. The floor beneath them was littered with peddles - many of which Sanchez makes himself, including his modified six string bass - a bass drum, and a cymbal to complete the illusion of a full backing band.

The more the short set went along, the more the extemporaneous pieces came into play, parlaying Dyer's vocals with harmonizing effects and other nifty gadgets that played the part of what seemed like a keyboard. There just seemed to be so much going on at once, despite the relative tameness of the parts sitting on the dimly lit stage.

And that, in itself, is an unfortunate fault. Despite the creativity and DIY approach, which is something you can really appreciate, there's a cataclysm of what can be done. The levels on Dyer's guitar and Sanchez' bass hardly change during the show, and the vocals - while pretty at times - become garbled in the scope of everything.  To the casual listener, there's not too much assurance of when their 2010 debut Riposte goes into their recently released EP Function Falls. But the result, more often than not, touches base with groups like Deerhoof and Dirty Projectors. Refined uniqueness, just borderline their own.

The band's tour continues tonight at New York City's Mercury Lounge. Tickets are still available.

Kung Fu Necktie, Oct. 11 - Buke and Gase (Preview)

There must be something frustrating for people to see bands form - successful bands - seemingly out of no where. Some teenager gets a wild hair up their ass, buys a start-up stratocaster, asks some friends what they're up to, and makes something out of nothing.

I only say this because looking at the short biography of Hudson, NY duo Buke and Gase, it seems Aron Sanchez and Aron Dyer were destined to do this in the long form. Both were self-trained musicians even before the age of ten, utilizing the immense downtime of youth to learn extensively about the array of sounds and mechanics that are possible within the realm of two kid's imagination.

The contorting rhythms and scope on the band's 2010 debut LP Riposte (under a different spelling than Buke and Gase) feel free, despite only meddling between two players. It's a repeating point on the band's excellent new four-track EP Function Falls. There's plenty of DIY overtone here, but the fact that the sounds are only come from two people - especially on their cover of New Order's "Blue Monday" - is worth admiration

Tickets for their Thursday, October 11 show at Philadelphia's Kung Fu Necktie are still available.