Buckley Boland drops three new cuts on his Upgrade label and entices Ibiza princess S/A/M to deliver a bonus cut.
Leeds veteran party starter Buckley is a name synonymous with the northern club scene. From the sounds of Motown to the beginnings of electro, Buckley moved quickly onto acid house/house when making the pilgrimage to the iconic Haçienda in Manchester. Eventually moving to ‘Madchester’ and becoming a regular DJ at the Haç, the sound Buckley pushed was made up of tracks like ‘Voodoo Ray’, ‘2 Hype’ by Kid N Play and Carĩno by Mike Pickering’s alias T Coy.
Fast forward to 2023 and Boland announces the arrival of his label Upgrade. Debuting with the mysterious IN 5 D ‘Upgrade’ EP that included the slamming ‘Dancing Queen’, the follow up is just as good, but certainly a little bit cheekier.
This one is from Buckley himself. Opening with ‘I Like’ a bass driven number with loads of cool effects and quirky Vox snippets. Think if ‘Professional Widow’ and ‘Burnin’ has a made on a bed of 808 and 909 samples. ‘Nude Night’ is a straight up old school ode that has that early 90’s Acid sound that are both familiar and fresh. Next is the Daft Punk sampled ‘Daft Sandwich’ that takes ‘Teachers’ on a 2024 journey that just rocks, pure unadulterated fun that sounds hella funky. Pikes/Cafe Del Mar favourite S/A/M closes the EP with superbly produced breakbeat number entitled ‘Real Man’. Low slung bass lines, chopped up drum beats pitched vocal samples and sharp rises make this ominous groove a real head down throw down.
The ‘After The Bufo’ EP is out now on Upgrade here.
