Buke and Gass

LOCAL SPOTLIGHT NYC
Buke and Gass

Every now and again you’ll hear or see a band that stops you dead in your tracks, whose music and performance elicits either a blissed-out “whoa,” or an amped-up “holy shit.” Buke and Gass is one such of these bands. Having first seen them live at the Jezebel Music October 2008 Feature Show — featuring The Art of Shooting — I had heard their music only a handful of times before their performance. When they began to play, from an adjacent room it seemed this was yet another four or five person rock band, but entering the showroom revealed the exciting truth.

Although at first mysterious, the band’s name is wholly appropriate: Buke and Gass contains only two members, Arone Dyer on “Buke and voice,” and Aron Sanchez (hailing from the now defunct Proton Proton, Jezebel Music’s November 2006 Feature Artist) on “Gass and drum.” Because I know you’re wondering, a Buke (pronounced “byook”) is a bass ukulele, and a Gass (pronounced “gase”) is, to quote Aron, “a bass guitar with guitar strings and bass strings, each going to corresponding pickups and amplifiers.” In this way, two people are essentially playing four instruments (or at least two instruments capable of covering great sonic ground). Add in Aron thumping on a kick drum and Arone stomping bells tied to her leg, and the five-person band is complete.

Buke and Gass take great care of their sound, both in the delivery of their performance and tone of their unusual instrumentation. Few times does adding distortion to an acoustic instrument work, and it is even rarer that two people can produce such a thick, layered sound. Their songs feature acoustic resonance, a warm and driving heaviness and rhythmic intricacy, combining the best of various styles including the folksy grit of early blues (the same that no doubt inspired Led Zeppelin, to whom Buke and Gass bear resemblance), and progressive/experimental modern rock. Credit must be given to Arone’s extraordinary vocals for the overall vivacity and color of Buke and Gass. From behind a blissful smile effortlessly leaps an explosive, high altitude voice and unforgettable, often exotic melodies. The end result is a new level of performing and songwriting that should not be missed.

Buke and Gass’s 7 track CD (pictured), entitled +/-, is available now for only $6 at their MySpace page, and $5 at shows.

by Dan D’Ippolito