Battle Torn Heroes / Women of the Night

“…I’m short of breath cuz I’m short of life…”

While three or four guys from down under had already sharpened their own sinewy signature sound on the horns of this particular bovine, four fellows from where flaps the Union Jack determined such a big n’ burly beast can shelter more than one associative band (with many more seeing it as an umbrella later). Can’t fault ‘em, really. Even grazing out in left field, I think it’s pretty tough-sounding, too.

Like any new group seeking exposure, Buffalo made their rightful rounds on the indie compilation circuit, first with hearty a-side “Battle Torn Heroes” when it filled in the A2 slot of the now-celebrated, early bird New Electric Warriors sampler of ’80, and then the following year on Heavy Metal Heroes Vol. 1 with the fairly ominous non-single dirge “Cold as Night”. While those two fingers were in the air gauging which way their publicity was blowing, along the line they’d hook their tour bus or station wagon or whatever up to the entourages of both Gillan and Motorhead for a time, so these guys were busy enough to avoid the mire the stagnant majority we’ll never read about fell into. It's a good start to say the least.

Then, of course, there’s this single. Lively, coolly-titled “Battle Torn Heroes” hits the beach with some boogie in its hybrid hard-rockin’ metal fanfare, rife with an on-yer-toes cadence not unlike enthusiastic then-current Blackfoot (hear: “Warped”), Bitches Sin (see: “What the Hell”), Wild Dogs (speak: “Running Away”) and distantly fired-up Triumph (smell: “I Live For the Weekend”), as well as some fresh-off-the-spool Michael Schenker Group. It’s minimal, though, barely to a fault, so brush away whatever spine-chilled slivers that you may feel under yer shirt, and if the second British invasion’s yer thing, then I’m wasting ink here.

B-side “Women of the Night” is less contemporary in stride and demeanor, a longer-sleeved toe-tapper with nary a trick except for what the recently buried decade had no choice but ingrain in their collective theory, though they accomplish this without the fairly common Hammond-addiction Deep Purple, Atomic Rooster, Germany’s Epitaph and a fair share of other '70s holdovers couldn’t seem to shake.

The beef-fed icing on this short but appreciated Buffalo experience is John Ralphs’ unrefined, finesse-ignoring tenor which fits both tunes decently, it being the last (and sometimes lost) notch on a belt keeping masculinity’s pants up, a belt that may have done wonders supporting the orange Sears Toughskins of, say, Goldsmith, Mistreater, and yeah, even Angel Witch’s mangier slacks; acts whose chronic, tone-denying, vocally-effeminate ways seldom failed to dampened whatever manliness their instruments successfully poured into a record’s groove. Young is young, but jeez, rough it up a bit, will ya?

As a whole, Buffalo’s music marches in the cattle line with (and actually sometimes below) competitive countrymates Fist, Blitzkrieg, Bitches Sin, noisier Hellanbach, Renegade, underrated Vardis and same year Beowulf (US), yet it isn't odd when they brush ahead of Chevy, Holocaust (UK), weak-kneed British Steel, Krokus, Quartz, Witchfynde, White Spirit and same year Accept.

Alas, Buffalo sadly couldn’t keep it together and by ’82 had wandered farther across the tundra to see what Geddes Axe, Turbo, and Mythra weren’t up to.

Not that it matters one bit, I often...okay, sometimes notice people confusing buffalo with yak, a similar, yet shaggier bovine that doesn’t get a tenth of the band name mileage that buffalo do. Can’t imagine why. Then again, Shaggy Yak rolls off the tongue kinda endearingly…for the mid/late ‘60s. Yeah I know, we just hightailed it outta the '70s. Sigh...okay, for you I'll unplug my time machine...but I wouldn't fall asleep if I were you.

Fun, um, Opinion #p]'\d12: in my personal hindsight, a quick switch-out of “Women of the Night” with “Cold as Night” and its brooding Witchfinder General-esque opening sludge would’ve ratcheted up this disc’s enjoyability a smidge, but then Heavy Metal Heroes would’ve had one less champion to praise. Or mash ‘em together as “Cold Women of the Night”, “Women Cold as the Night”, “Night as Cold as Women”…endless possibilities there.

“…gotta find the victory hours…”