The band Bambara is something like a good marriage. A decade in and their music keeps getting better and better, while still remaining reliably Bambara-ish, fully basking in its tent-revival-post-punk glory. On their most recent LP Stray these Georgia transplants (ok so the Bambara boys moved here nearly a decade ago, but still let's all give a big big-up to that most swingin’-est of swing states) locked themselves in a windowless Brooklyn basement (pre-pandemic mind you) and worked out a new batch of death-rattle songs that’ll make you wanna go out and grab life by its naughty bits so be sure to listen in its entirety if you wanna get that uncanny life-and-death-drive-all-at-once feeling.

Here’s the real reason for this writeup: Bambara is known to absolutely tear it up live and in March they taped a live set just under the lockdown wire which was posted online a couple months ago and which this writer just happened to come across recently. So we need to know, do you miss live music? I mean, do you really miss it? Do you really really miss it and really really need it? Well do you? Yeah? How bad? Ahhhhh ok, I see! Well allow the DELI to be your plug then because this scorching four-song set with interview intermission, taped by the good people at Seattle’s KEXP over on the other coast, captures Bambara’s raw intensity in all its intense rawness. And they seem like really nice guys, awww.

That said lead extemporizer Reid Bateh performs throughout with a street-preacher-foaming-at-the-mouth-level intensity to the point where by the end of this brisk 22 minutes there’s a good chance you’ll be converted. Plus his energy level is matched by the band’s playing and we promise you that barely two minutes into the first song when touring guitarist Sammy Zalta goes all Travis Bickle on his guitar you will damn well wanna go out and massacre a den of pimps yourself. Stay cruel for me, baby, indeed. (Jason Lee)

photo credit: Daggers For Eyes

The faint of heart (and/or ear) should avoid at all costs Rough Trade on the eve of Saturday January 12th, since three loud and aggressive local bands will grace the venue's stage in quick succession starting at 9pm. Headliners Bambara have refined their gloomy psych rock in ever-darker and tenser directions with their latest two full lengths, while sludge rockers A Deer A Horse will be a worthy opener, sharing those same traits minus the psychedelic ingredient. Opener Gnarcissist will bring to the stage a more traditional (and fun) DIY punk with a markedly drunk and chaotic attitude. Tickets are on sale here, check out a playlist of vidoes below.

The first instinct when hearing Bambara is to label it as a noise-rock outfit, but pretty soon there comes a hesitation. The New York transplants, originally from Georgia, bring a sort of Western rhythm into the affair. The howling guitars start sounding like an ominous wind ripping across the new frontier, the groaning vocals become an impassioned southern drawl. That may be overstating certain influences, but it is true that the core of Bambara’s sound is a mutation of guitar music, manifesting in near-forgotten influences (desert rock?) and otherworldly contortions of guitar noise. That remains just as true on the band’s third album, Shadow on Everything, released last week. It’s a dark, effects-heavy piece of post-punk that draws apt comparisons to the deep, tense and troubled music of Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds. On April 13th, a week after that release, Bambara will celebrate the album live performing with added accompaniment from strings and saxophone at ALPHAVILLE. Listen to Shadow on Everything below. – Cameron Carr

Brooklyn/Athens based trio Bambara plays that niche genre - unknown to most mortals - called "noise rock." You may have more luck getting a reaction from saying the words "Sonic Youth," the NYC band that pioneered and perfected the genre in the late 80s. In their latest album "Dreamviolence," the trio takes things to darker and sometimes even noisier extremes. We asked them a few questions about how it came together. The guys are lucky enough to have a sound engineer in the band, William Brookshire, who recorded the album and answered our questions. Read the interview on The Deli's gear blog Delicious Audio.

BAMBARA finds beauty in disturbing places, which makes them fit perfectly with the tradition of NYC music. The heavy psych trio will celebrate the vinyl release of their album DREAMVIOLENCE tonight at Cakeshop - do not attend sober (or without earplugs!) - LINK: Jack McGovern's interview with BAMBARA