If you asked most people in this town to name the best act ever to come out of Buffalo, they’d most likely name the Goo Goo Dolls or Ani DiFranco. However, if you asked someone who is actually in a band, they’d be much more apt to mention Mark Norris and Girlpope. After years of stellar live shows and a few fine CDs (most notably 1997’s rock-solid Whole Scene Going), in 2004 the band members went their separate ways. Norris, Artvoice’s former managing editor, was the band’s prime mover but has kept a relatively low profile in the last couple years, occasionally playing acoustic sets and infrequent electric shows with his new project, the versatile Backpeddlers. This period of woodshedding was apparently a good thing, as it has resulted in the last great album of 2006, local or otherwise, Stranded Between Stations. It is a record full of regret, failure, recrimination and self-doubt, though it is not a “bummer” record. With the exception of the bouncy “Battleship,” nothing on this disc sounds anything like the pop-punk of Girlpope. Not to diminish the legacy of that fine band, but the emotional and textural growth in Norris’ songwriting is a welcome addition, and the Backpeddlers have emerged as a distinct, fully formed unit rather than the sum of their many influences. There is a thread of hope, albeit a slender one, that runs throughout the album, with attendant flashes of optimism and redemption. Mark Norris and the Backpeddlers celebrate the release of Stranded Between Stations along with Tracy Morrow and the Magi Chippi and DJ Donny Shaft.

Saturday, December 16 at 10pm. Mohawk Place, 47 E. Mohawk St (855-3931) www.mohawkplace.com. $5.