Buke And Gass Offer A Riposte

Buke and Gass are Arone Dyer on the buke (a self modified six string former baritone ukulele) and Aron Sanchez on the gass (a guitar bass hybrid). The two of them together along with a small army of foot percussion create sounds using various pedals, amplifiers and homemade inventions. Their goal is to create something unique and obviously out of the norm using instrumentation that is rarely used in a rock and roll, indie rock, whatever arrangement. Their album, Riposte, unfortunately is really none of those things. While the band use a bevy of interesting instrumentation the sounds that result from these instruments sound pretty much like your standard guitar, bass, drum set up.

Despite ukulele's, and gass' in tow much of Riposte sounds something like a long lost PJ Harvey record from 1993. With some riot grrl leanings and a whole bunch of noise, Riposte, attacks its listeners with a ferocity and edginess that you would not expect from someone playing a ukulele. "Tiptoe Through The Tulips," this is not, instead, Riposte, is more like a napalm attack on those tulips leaving a trail of death and destruction in its wake. As one might expect with such leanings, the album is a bit light on melody and instead relies on it's overbearing nature to ram it's message home. Not necessarily catchy in a traditional sense, Riposte's, awkward time signatures and throwback alternative vibes make the record at least interesting to listen to.

While I wouldn't say this record is the feel good hit of the summer, the very idea of the fact that these guys have DIY'ed from the get go certainly makes the record compelling. From the stomp and strum of "Your Face Left Before You," to the strange tinkling's of "Bundletuck," Riposte is one record that keeps it's listener guessing. Now, if only they could find someway to turn their extraordinary approach into something at least littered with some melodies they would clearly be on to something. For the time being though, Buke and Gass are plowing their way through the musical forest with an unmatched approach and a set of songs that will have anyone who loved atonal post punk and/or bands like Xiu Xiu salivating for ages.