The Rochester trio King Buffalo have, in recent years, established themselves as one of the revelations of a renewed stoner rock, more psychedelic than heavy. Regenerator concludes a trilogy of albums written and recorded during the pandemic, a cycle marked by isolation, uncertainty and a form of cosmic introspection.
The critics (an 82 average across six reviews) hail a hovering, coherent record, where the band push their art of texture and hypnotic repetition further still. After the darkness of the previous part, Regenerator lets a new light filter through, a tempered note of hope.
Musically, everything rests on the balance between krautrock riffs, atmospheric washes and a soft, almost murmured voice. King Buffalo favour atmosphere over impact, the gradual build over the frontal discharge; this is a music of inner journey, made to get lost in its loops.
This aesthetic of restraint has its limits: Regenerator sometimes lacks high points, tracks that would impose themselves from the outset. The record is savoured over time and through repetition, but can seem, on first listen, a touch monochrome and distant.
Verdict: 8/10. A hypnotic, controlled record, elegantly concluding an ambitious trilogy and confirming the hovering singularity of the American trio.
