The first song on Alison Pipitone's sixth record, Tigerbabies, begins with the line "Just a little bad luck is all you need," delivered over a cheery and fuzzy guitar. Which just about communicates Pipitone's songwriting voice: Life is broken and beautiful, grin in the face of despair. (Cheer up, that is. But, really, sometimes despair.) Pipitone has been recording great, no-gimmick rock songs like "i think you get me baby," "Love,Love,Love" and the opening track, "sUnShinestAr," for 10 years, gilding humor and love with a dark cloud of alienation. She also, of course, has been honing their edges before live audiences, both on the road and in Buffalo clubs—you can catch her from time to time at the Sportsmen's Tavern, which is right next to Sessions, where she and the band recorded Tigerbabies with Dwane Hall, the proprietor of both establishments, and she'll be at Artpark and Lafayette Square in August. This record is easily as good as anything she's done before, maybe better. Pipitone is equipped with one of the best and scratchiest rock-and-roll voices you'll ever hear, as well as a straightforward relationship with her guitar that invariably works to the benefit of her songs. She also has a new band, which she says is the one she's been waiting for all these years: Rebecca Mercurio plays upright and electric bass, Patrick Shaughnessy plays drums and Graham Howes adds his guitar. In the studio she also was joined by a host of legendary local talent, including Jim Whitford on guitar and lap steel and Rob Lynch on backing vocals. On your next visit to the record store, buy local.

The story behind Morning Is the End of the Day is one of those perfect Buffalo tales. It goes like this: You’re sitting in a divey rock club, enjoying the music, the crowd and the constant replenishment of cold bottles of Canadian in your hand. The friendly bartender with the bushy beard that’s been on-the-spot with those cold drinks all night? Turns out he’s a fucking brilliant songwriter. With his late band Barrel Harbor, singer/songwriter Bill Nehill used to stalk and stomp the stage in a frothy, quaking fit of rock’n’roll brilliance. Putting that particular idiom aside for a moment, Bill has been playing legendary solo acoustic shows at the area’s better music venues (and frequently contributing to Artvoice) as Tracy Morrow for the past couple of years. The music of Tracy Morrow cuts deep—handsaw-against-your-forearm-bone-deep. It’s music for bleary-eyed, dissatisfied, sad-sack, dancing-with-alcoholism grumblers. Take “New Jerusalem Road,” a song about a man watching his ex-girlfriend with her new boyfriend at Christmas with her family and chew on these sample lyrics: “In this lonely apartment/You can smell desperation/Well, it comes from the food in the sink/That’s long-since decayed.” The first reaction to hearing this is, “Jee-ZUS.” After sinking in a moment, the reaction becomes, “Shit, I been there.” Moments later, your reaction consists of looking at the track listing, seeing a song called “It’s Your Birthday” coming up, and thinking, “This ain’t gonna to be good.” The whole record is filled with more self-critical honesty than you can probably handle, but is told so gently and truthfully that peering into this particular, harshly lit mirror is worth the experience. The music is somewhat minimal, too many syllables are sometimes crammed together in one line and there’s the habit of starting too many lines with, “Well, I…”—however, these are minor quibbles. The emotional content of Morning Is the End of the Day is unquestionable, and Tracy Morrow has created a completely new way to describe our particular corner of time and space.

With the release of this lovely, two-sided piece of vinyl, Buffalo’s La Cacahouette elegantly display why they are one of the leading lights of the Queen City’s underground music scene. The trio has taken the right cues from shoegazing stalwarts like My Bloody Valentine and Lush and ably managed a deft balancing act of ethereal melodies and distorted but beautiful noise. “Cocaine Unicorn” is perfect lesson in dark beauty as Gerald Thomas’ guitar slinks from pretty lines to menacing over Pepper Ochsner Thomas’ sleepy-eyed vocals. An eerie organ break and pulsing synth comes in halfway through to add wonderfully ominous tension to it all. “Help Is Automatic” is heavy and anthemic with a cascading sheen. Let me add that Left of the Dial is always happy to see bands that value in investing in the warm sound and cool sleeve offered by the under appreciated 7” record format. La Cacahouette celebrates the release of their self-titled 7” with a show next Saturday, July 22 at Mohawk Place with the Frame Up, Knife Crazy and Aloke. For more info on La Cacahouette: www.myspace.com/lacacahouette, www.frenchforpeanut.com.