After years of playing on the local music scene in Oxford, Miss, five-piece rock band Young Buffalo are set to release their debut full-length album House on March 3 via Votiv. The album includes the singles “My Place” and “Sykia” as instant downloads. Along with the news of their highly anticipated debut full-length, we are also pleased to announce the release of the single Brain One on 10” vinyl, now available on Amazon.

Although the group’s songwriters Ben Yarbrough and Jim Barrett didn’t begin playing under the Young Buffalo moniker until 2009, they started writing music together as teenagers and never ceased evolving. The band—which now also features drummer Tim Burkhead, bassist Andrew Guinn and keyboardist Will Eubanks—couldn’t be more excited to share House, an 11-track album produced by Dave Schiffman (Haim, Weezer) that establishes the five-piece act as a band that’s as unique as the town where they were conceived.

To hear it from the band, Oxford, MS is an arts town. Always has been, probably always will be. “Oxford has been a literary town basically since William Faulkner was around in the 40’s 50’s and 60’s. Authors like Larry Brown, Barry Hannah, Tom Franklin, Jack Pendarvis, and a slew of other literary greats called or still call Oxford home. With the writing comes painting, and then hand in hand– the music.“ Barrett explains. Because of that great literary history and the fact that Oxford is the home of the infamous University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) the town breeds contradictions.

While House is teeming with infectious melodies and upbeat instrumentation, Yarbrough’s lyrics were inspired by real life heartbreak. “A lot of my writing went back to how I felt when a high school sweetheart broke up with me and I went through a depression for a little while so the lyrical tone isn’t super happy,” he admits. Alternately a song like ‘No Idea’ is about stepping outside of your comfort zone and leaving your hometown to follow your dreams. Even as the heart-on-sleeve story telling in evident.

“When we’re writing we always want it to be something that we would want to listen to in the car or put in at a party.” Barrett explains. “We’re really honest with ourselves when it comes to what we create and that’s ultimately what keeps us interested to keep pushing forward,” he summarizes

Tour Dates:

January 14 at Lincoln Hall in Chicago, IL
January 16 at The Demo in St. Louis, MO
January 17 at MOTR Pub in Cincinnati, OH
March 22 at VOV Fest in Hot Springs, AR