Rewind – Buxton Record Release with Featherface and Marmalakes @ Fitzgerald’s 02/04/2012

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Buxton's long awaited New West Records debut was nothing less than a triumph

Buxton is back with a new album and at Saturday’s release party, the band was clearly out of gum and ready to kick ass. Now I wish it weren’t the case, but this was the first Buxton show I’d caught in a long long time but what a way to be re-introduced to the band than to show up at this show! I’d always admired this band’s skills as musicians, writers, and performers and this only served to reinforce that admiration.

Their shows are filled with a nervous and wild energy on stage and a gracious appreciation for the fans who are in the audience. At one point, vocalist Sergio Trevinio thanked the crowd and the Houston area for their support in a manner that was so earnest and sincere that it reminded you how far this band has come without a lot of hokum or flash. I’ve seen some young bands appear out of the gate with slick videos and a sense of privilege about them as they perform on stage – call it an unironic look at me, I am so fucking awesome kind of stance. But Buxton has never been that band and if anything they are a model to how a band should grow. Their first albums seemed to sneak by people, if memory serves correctly I heard my first album from a recommendation by John Nova Lomax, but eventually the cream rises to the top and with the release of 2024’s A Family Light, the band soon became one of those must see bands about town. They put a Feather in their cap (pun intended) with a 7″ not long after that and played some wild and boisterous shows (remember the sparklers at the Westheimer Block Party?) then after their deserved signing to New West their profile seemed to mellow a bit . Not that they weren’t playing shows to voracious fans but you would have expected the band to have taken advantage of that momentum and kick out this album long ago. Yet, when the band took the stage on Saturday night to the cheers of an anxious crowd, you’d have thought no time had been lost; they were back on the precipice ready to jump off and grabbing the audiences hand, they did just that.

The band rolled through its new album, Nothing Here Seems Strange, from track one right to the end. “Boy of Nine” – the single from the album – had the crowd clapping and singing along but, for my money, the two tracks I most return to on the album “Down in The Valley” and “Oh My Boy” were easily the best moments. I play guitar so I may have a bias but the dual guitars of Austin Sepulvado and Jason Willis are just too much fun on those tracks and seeing them perform live is just a thing of beauty. When Sepulvado bends that lead on “Down in the Valley” or when Willis rips the lead on “Oh My Boy”, the other is right there playing off it in a way that both supports the lead guitar but is just as engaging. Them boys are just dangerous is all I’m saying and I’d put them up there with Bright Men of Learning as a local band who knows how to use multiple guitars with a graceful and mindful restraint.

One funny thing about the band I found after such a long break is how more restrained Sergio Trevino is these days. He used to have this wild yelp in his delivery that you don’t hear much anymore. It’s a maturation in his craft that is admirable but I’d be lying if I didn’t say I kind of missed that a just little bit. Still as the “front-man” of the band, he has a voice and delivery that packs a huge emotional punch in each song. When the band cleared the stage for “Body Count”, leaving Trevinio largely alone with Two Star Symphony backing him up, you could see how even with the stage at its most bare, he could still carry a room.

After the album, the band played some old favorites, “Westward” ripped with Two Star furious fiddling and a fast as lightening “Feathers” was a perfect closer but even with all that, the crowd demanded more and the band graciously obliged them with a loopy version of Wings’ “Jet” that featured Sepulvado doing a damn good McCartney and the crowd shouting “Jet!” on the chorus. Sorry, but if you were anywhere else in Houston Saturday you just plain missed out!

PS. Kudos to the opening bands. Featherface played an energetic opening set; they may be from Friendswood but those guys can teach us inner-loopers a thing or two. Also, praise is also due to Austin’s Marmalakes who somehow combined a laid-back style with some furious dynamics. Both were great sets and worth having gotten there early.