Branden Barnett’s recommendation: “I have had the great pleasure to get to know an amazing band called Roger Bryan and the Orphans from Buffalo, NY. These five guys are the definition of good songwriting, vicious live shows and being good dudes in general. I am usually very afraid of “triple threat” guitar bands but the three guitarists of The Orphans have a way of making just plain good songs into something terrifying and epic. Matt Smith’s Richards-esque guitar dancing mixed with Erik Roesser’s manic, tasteful noise bombs sit comfortably on each side of Roger’s rhythm and sparse leads. The rhythm section of Mike and Ryan is as solid as it gets. The songs are located somewhere between the Replacements and Liam Gallagher (in a good way) and have a way of shoving big ideas about longing and frustration into your brain with very simple lyrics. There is no wasted space in their songs. It all fits. It’s all necessary and they do it very well. Bands that have an itch to make big, American, anthemic face-stomping rock should take notice that it can be done with a good measure of smarts. This band is the perfect example of this.”

New to Roger Bryan and the Orphans from Buffalo? Start with their latest long play album, Wolves that you can buy at their site or listen to some of the tunes here:

About the guest author, Branden Barnett: Branden fronts Ghost Shirt, a much beloved power-pop outfit from Columbus, Ohio. They were aptly described as ‘Arcade Fire come back down to Earth’ by Chris DeVille in Columbus Alive and have a new record coming out REALLY SOON. In the mean time, treat yourself to streams from their first album here:

Also be sure to check the official Ghost Shirt site and their 52 songs in 52 weeks project on Donewaiting.com.