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Young Buffalo: Boys Will Be Boys

YoungBuffalo

Oxford, Miss.’ Young Buffalo is feeling California

What is it about the Deep South these days? Once considered an indie-rock no-fly zone, the region has been popping out great bands one after the other of late. There’s the whole ’Bama revolution led by St. Paul And The Broken Bones and recent MAGNET cover band Alabama Shakes. Louisiana has weighed in with Hurray For The Riff Raff and the Deslondes. And now Mississippi is stepping it up, if Young Buffalo’s House (Votiv) is any indication. So, why now?
“I really don’t have an answer to that,” says an audibly weary Jim Barrett, who’s been sharing songwriting, singing and guitar-playing duties with longtime friend Ben Yarbrough as Young Buffalo since 2009. “Then again, we’re not from L.A., so it takes a little longer to find some people who can really back you.”

Barrett has been on the road for months, and he’s just hours away from a well-deserved break back in Oxford, the artsy university town that was once home to William Faulkner and is still a literary haven. “It’s not as backwoods as people think—it’s a pretty awesome place,” says Barrett about where he grew up.

Most prominent on House are the richly layered, Wilson-esque harmonies of Barrett, Yarbrough and drummer Tim Burkhead. The album was produced by Dave Schiffman (Haim, Weezer) with just enough beefy crossover sheen to accentuate the group’s SoCal-skewed pop instincts.

Fittingly, perhaps, there’s absolutely nothing about its 11 tracks to suggest a band with Southern roots. But even without that suddenly trendy reference point, audiences are responding. “I definitely feel like more and more people are paying attention to us,” says Barrett. “Our last shows in New York went really well, with people singing along to the songs.”

Now, it’s back to Oxford, where the band isn’t expecting any welcome-home parades or handshakes from the mayor. “We’ll sleep, pay some bills we neglected, then hit the road again,” says Barrett. “We know we’ll have to tour this record for a while. It’s gonna be a slow-burner.”

—Hobart Rowland