Press
All Music Guide
Avenue of the Flags is atmospheric and sparse, moody and somber, but without ever sacrificing its low-watt guitar spark and expressive, romantic heart. Unlike many sad and slowcore bands, Buellton never reduces its music to a mere hum on its debut offering, nor does it slowly boil the music down to the least common, bare-boned denominator. Instead, the band allows its music to unwind and open up in its own time, to generate its own muted but decidedly electric momentum. The results are entirely lovely. Songs drift along at half speed, but there is so much texture and tension that they never threaten to fold in on themselves or turn narcoleptic. Even when the music is at its most measured ("What Do You Suppose," the chilly but scintillating folktronica of "People Die") or when it stretches out ("Sellblocks," "Grammys '97"), the band does not meander or dawdle along. The album is undoubtedly meditative and melancholy, sometimes in an almost fragile, sparkling way ("Angel Feet"). But melody ultimately proves just as important as mood, and the music is not all brooding and blue-hued. Like My Bloody Valentine, Buellton maintains a certain muscularity without sacrificing the quiet, subdued nature at its center. "Dark," one of the album's finest songs, is positively singsongy, with some of the loopiness of Flaming Lips, while at other times the band conveys a surprising sense of humor, or a gutsy kick in the rhythm section (the Doves-like pocket groove of "Keepin' It Real") that counteracts otherwise downturned sentiments. Ethereal without being lost in its own cosmos, resplendent but with enough grit to feel its feet on the ground, Avenue of the Flags never threatens to drift off in its own self-involved flight, making it all the more enveloping.
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Kevchino.com
Buellton, originating loosely on guitarist / writer / vocalman john nygren's previous band brown (with cliff hayes and andrew giacumakis), recording wizard/guitarist tad wagner and household drumming recording utility-man erik herzog (tracker, wasted tape) joined up and began recording together in late 98 and soon after began playing up and down the southern california coast (with the likes of acetone, radar bros. earlimart...) to a kind and devoted, growing, regional following. Avenue of the flags south coast, CA.: the first release to come from buellton, avenue of the flags (FILMguerrero Fg06) is intelligent, guitar-band-ick medium-core. Recorded on an AKAI analog 12-track and some ADAT 8-track by tad wagner and produced by buellton, avenue of the flags emerged from their warehouse/cooler/practice space-made-recording studio buonapasta with a unique album. buellton brings to mind the sobriety of richard buckner, chicago(the city), any 70's garage band, the pacific northwest and the flaming lips. AoTF is wondrous, patient, pop-craft: sensitive, brooding and hopeful all the same.
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FakeJazz.com
Sounding like Wheat without the insane Tom Petty influence, like Rex without the post-rock aspirations, like a countrified Mercury Rev, like a Flaming Lips minus the drug influence, like Songs: Ohia if they were any good... the list goes on. So, what are you thinking? You're thinking, "yeah, doesn't sound very original, I don't think I'd like it". Well, you'd be wrong, then, G-Money, because Buellton, a pretty much unknown alt-country (Alt-country? Are they alt-country, even? Are we still using that term?) band that are dangerously close to flying under the radar of everything.
The record begins with three tracks that tug at the heartstrings with their plaintive lyrics and weeping instrumentation. "Single", "Dark", and "The Flow" are each on their own pretty strong--especially "Dark"--but taken as a cohesive, three-song unit, they're a devastating introduction to an album that seems pained by a heartfelt loss. Like I said before, "Dark" is probably the best of these three, with lead vocal-man John Nygren singing in a high falsetto, "why are you so dark?"
Another highlight to this record is "Angel Feet", a fuzzy, two-minute song that's full of really understated beauty. Bringing back the Flaming Lips reference again, "Angel Feet" reminds me of the opening to "The Abandoned Hospital Ship", from Clouds Taste Metallic. Soft, pretty, and with strange background noise akin to the clockwork whirring on "Hospital Ship," it's a pretty great song. This is followed by the rocking "Sellblocks" (sic), which is another great one. They stop that mad flow with "Pistolgal," which is too languid, and doesn't go anywhere. But "People Die" easily makes up for this stall. Dual male/female vocal harmonies, layered sound, and brushed drums equals pure excellence.
I could keep going on about why I like Buellton so much. I could say "yeah, I've been feeling the country lately these days, so Buellton is perfect", or I could make fun of Songs: Ohia a little more. I'm not going to do either. This is an album that bridges summer's poppy-ness (or, the liking of popular music over the summer, I should say) with a sadder, slower feeling that adds a depth to the music that wouldn't otherwise be there. Highly recommended.