The Music Box: Opalite, gas station., Stephen Babcock and other new releases
Buffalo Music: What’s the Taylor Swift connection for local performer?
By Elmer Ploetz and Chloe Kowalyk
Is it a good thing or a bad thing when Taylor Swift gives one of her songs the same title as your performing name? Opal Kelly, who performs as Opalite, is about to find out.
*Opalite just released their newest single on Bandcamp on Friday (Aug. 22). Titled “Phantom Creek” as a whole, it has two songs, “Slow Roll” and “Clean Cut.” Opalite has been releasing music on Bandcamp since 2020.
Meanwhile, the music/culture juggernaut Swift announced her newest album (“Life of a Showgirl”) on Aug. 13, and the third song on the album — set for release on Oct. 3 — is the song “Opalite.”
Opalite, who lives in North Buffalo, acknowledges being influenced by Swift — as a 27-year-old who has been listening to Swift since they were in fifth grade, how could they not be? But these days they say the influence is mostly in their lyrics.
“I don’t necessarily interact with her music nearly as much as I used to,” Opalite said when asked about Swift. “My influences are very different now, because I’m very synth-focused. So I have some ’80s synth pop bands that influence me, and then some more modern synth creators that influence me too, and Taylor Swift, again, probably just lyrical influences.”
Those influences? Canadian singer Lights, New Order, Alice Glass/Crystal Castles, Robyn, MUNA and even some Carly Rae Jepsen. Opalite said they’ve been told they sound a bit like Halsey.
Opalite describes their music as “synth pop recorded in a closet,” and they literally do record their vocals in a closet. Most of the rest of their music can be recorded on a direct line from the instrument.
“People have to ‘sound treat’ rooms, and if I already have a room in my house that’s full of clothes — which are basically sound treatment — It’s a really good studio space,” they said.
So now “Opalite” will be part of the search algorithms for Swift fans worldwide. And Buffalo’s Opalite will be figuring out what that means for them.
“I’ve been wondering the exact same thing. I can’t tell yet if it’s gonna be good or bad,” they said.
Meanwhile, take a listen to the new tracks. You can buy them on Bandcamp:
gas station.: ‘A Collection of Songs for Saying Goodbye’ LP
gas station. is described as a math rock band from Buffalo (yes, it’s lower case and with a period), but to these ears the recording produced by Jay Zubricky at GCR Audio have some similarities to early Goo Goo Dolls. The 11-song vinyl LP will be released on the We’re Trying Records, a label from Austin, Texas. Its official release date is Aug. 29 and it can be pre-ordered, but you can check out a pair of songs right now. Here’s one of them.
Stephen Babcock: ‘Osaka’
Stephen Babcock has two new songs on his “Osaka” single, the title track (released Aug. 14) and “Dumb Luck” (actually released in July). Babcock rides the edge between singer-songwriter, country, rock and indie, and he does it well. In this song, he goes to Japan in search of himself … and then charts the results.
And here’s a video of the making of the song:
Dogs Are People Too, ‘Dogs Are People Too’
Dogs Are People Too is a project of Abruptors bass player Christian Lee, described as indie rock and ska “recorded in a garage studio with lots of love.” Abruptor drummer Alex Schultz contributes too on the 11-side album, alongside Gabi Mann, Aiden Jay Roberts and Jacob Elibol. It’s a lo-fi affair with some high points like this song:
Burgundy Red: ‘She took control and danced across the sky’
You’ve got to love Burgundy Red’s explanation of their sound: “‘Noise’ is a strict definition of this music. As I do fall into this genre and subsequent genres of this music I however do not consider it such. I aim to bring an ethereal and ephemeral experience.”
We would say it’s a mixture of some noise with the ethereal and ephemeral on this recording: music to explore abandoned warehouses by. Here’s one from the ethereal side of the seven-song album.
Big D And The Kids Table: “Shining On” Live at Buffalo Iron Works
Big D And The Kids Table recently headlined the second night of Buffalo Ska Fest (Aug. 16), presented by local organizers Riot Squad Media (also known for organizing the Camp Punksylvania Festival).
Originally forming in Boston, Big D And The Kids Table identifies as a ska punk band, and currently has over a hundred thousand monthly listeners on Spotify.
The group performed their massive hit “Shining On,” which has garnered over eight million streams on Spotify, and is widely recognized among fans of the genre.
Despite being the final band of a day-long festival, the crowd was lively as several audience members moshed and many others danced throughout the band’s set.
You can check out the band on Instagram here.
- Definition of Opalite: The opalite gemstone is an artificial crystal that imitates the traditional opal, composed mainly of glass and resin, or sometimes metal. There’s also a natural opalite variety made of silica and water, like the semi-precious gemstone opal.
Got new music we should know about? Drop us a line at editor@thebuffalohive.com.
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