the Buddies – Self Titled LP

By Suman Sinha | Published: September 19, 2011

‘the Buddies’ are an amalgam of two bands, Welcome to Ashley from Chicago and Pale Blue Dot out of Nashville. On AI we have covered Welcome to Ashley before and so when this opportunity came I was definitely very eager. I wasn’t disappointed!

The band is made up of Coley Kennedy (Voice), Kim Collins (Drums, Vocals, Accordion), Justin Colins (Guitar, Vocals, Piano) Scott Collins (Guitar, Vocals) and Jeremy “Mouse” Barrett (Bass Guitar) and they describe their sound thus,

a searing combination of garage-folk, post punk, and Celtic rock – “boozy, shambling, sweetly grungy hoist-alongs.”

The LP grows on you after a few listens. Though there are a few ‘filler’ tracks, the ones that are good really stand out. Musically they range from folksy tunes to indie rockers and lyrically they are intelligent to plain dopey, and I don’t mean that in a bad way! An example would be this track called All the Beer is Gone. Here are some parts!

Coley: All the beer is gone
Chorus: Drink some whiskey
Coley: The whiskey’s gone
Chorus: Then go to a bar
Coley: The bars are closed
Chorus: Go read a book
Coley: Read a book?
Chorus: Yeah!
Coley: Read a book?
Chorus: Yup!
Coley: I’m fucked!

Coley: My place is a mess
Chorus: Then why don’t you clean it
Coley: Coz i’m a lazy drunk
Chorus: Sober up
Coley: Then what would i do
Chorus: Go to gym
Coley: Join a gym?
Chorus: (clamour of voices – confusion)
Coley: I’m fucked (laughs)

They have most graciously allowed me to offer 3 tracks for free download over here at AI. It was tough to narrow it down to 3 – my shortlist had at least 5! But after much deliberation I have chosen 3, purely based on personal tastes and your mileage may vary. I found that the ballads worked better for me. But you can give the full album a listen over at http://candyappleandthebuddies.bandcamp.com/. Look out for tracks 2,3,6 & 11 (apart from my chosen 3). And if you like the album please do consider buying it.