Buffalo Killers are a band slightly out of time. Not, like, a band of 1800s rifle-wielding frontiersmen roaming the plains, hunting American buffalo and whittling the species from 60 million to a couple dozen. More like 1970s blues-rockers like the Allman Brothers Band. Like the Allmans, the Buffalo Killers' principal songwriters are the brothers Gabbard, Zach and Andrew, who grew up in the Cincinnati suburbs feasting on their dad's albums.
“There was just constantly music blasting in our house — the Allman brothers, Neil Young,” said Andrew, the younger brother, who plays guitar and sings. “He had pretty good taste, and our dad has a huge record collection. Well, it used to be huge until we started stealing them and putting them in our collections.”
The Gabbards and drummer Joseph Sebaali's second LP, 2008's “Let It Ride,” is wrought with the influence of '70s rock — filthy guitars, scratchy vocals, stoner vibes.
It also calls to mind the Black Crowes, which had Buffalo Killers for an opener on tour for several months this past fall.
“We're heavily influenced by the Black Crowes,” Andrew said. “We like the same bands they do.”
Buffalo Killers formed in 2006 after two members of the garage rock band Thee Shams quit, leaving the Gabbards and Sebaali to forge ahead with a new name and more psychedelic identity. Nine years younger, Andrew was invited in the late-1990s to join his older brother's band — since Thee Shams melded into Buffalo Killers, songwriting and singing has become more collaborative and open-ended, with each brother writing songs.
The new set up has suited its members better than the five-piece days.
“A three piece is more intimate and manageable,” said Zach, who plays bass and sings. “It is a real opportunity to be able to travel, tour and experience the trials of a road band with your brother.”
“Let It Ride” was produced by Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys, another band to which Buffalo Killers owes a stylistic debt. The band will play a handful of shows in Ohio — native state of both groups — after its performance Saturday at the Green Building (732 E. Market St.) for Halfway to Forecastle, the ultra-preparty for the summer's Forecastle Festival. Like their hometown of Cincy, Buffalo Killers manages to straddle between Midwestern garage rock ethos and Southern rock sensibilities — if just for their long hair and scruffy beards. But those pretenses are fading, Andrew assured. Buffalo Killers is working on a new album, which they'll focus on following the Black Keys shows.
“We're really going to hit this next one hard,” Andrew said. “We don't want to come across as garage rock — we're going to come into our own.”
