#22: Buke and Gass, "Your Face Left Before You"

Brooklyn duo Buke and Gass decided that they didn’t want to just make music. They also wanted to make their own instruments. Singer Arone Dyer plays a modified baritone-ukulele (hence “buke”) that’s run through a plethora of effects. Band mate Aron Sanchez uses a guitar-bass hybrid (and hence “gass”) that’s run through two separate amps. As if that were not enough, they both simultaneously play a variety of foot pedals, making them really annoying to all aspiring musicians who never could master the recorder (possibly an autobiographical statement).

Yet, what could prove to be a novelty group with homemade instruments and over-reliance on effects is, in effect, a powerful band that makes more noise than two people should be capable of producing. And this doesn’t even take into account Dyer’s vocals, which don’t shy away from matching the band’s sound. 

“Your Face Left Before You,” from their debut, Riposte, is a good example of their sound – jazz, power punk, like the Dirty Projectors as interpreted by two new-age hippies who love to play with their self-made toys.

Download is from the always reliable Stereogum: http://stereogum.com/477022/buke-gass-your-face-left-before-you-stereogum-premiere/mp3s/.

No video stream for this one.