NOTE: All photos are copyright of Howard Shiau Photography 2025
It’s been over eleven years since Aussie alt-rockers Atlas Genius released their debut studio album “When It Was Now” and their first single “Trojans” invaded our collective consciousness. That record ended up on my top ten albums of the decade with its enticing melodies, toe-tapping beats, and well thought out lyrics. We managed to catch their engaging live shows eight times in those early years (it helped that we all lived in NYC at the time) through the release of their sophomore album “Inanimate Objects” in 2015. After 2018, their presence faded a bit with no new music, the occasional festival appearance, and no full scale tour. The Covid pandemic had something to do with that since their third studio album was scheduled to be released in 2020, followed by a tour. Living in LA became a bit too much during lockdown and the brothers moved back to Adelaide, Australia to be closer to family and friends. After signing with a new label, Atlas Genius has finally released their long awaited album “End of the Tunnel” and have embarked on a co-headlining tour with Robert DeLong across the United States. Originally, there were no stops near western New York so we were ecstatic when they announced a solo show at the Rec Room in Buffalo on Friday, September 20th.
Opening for Atlas Genius were fellow Adelaidean band Normal Behaviour. The band played a high energy set with a bit of comedic dialogue thrown in for kicks. Led by frontman/guitarist Kam Henschke, their music takes me back to the 90s in a very good way. Even with a slightly dislocated shoulder, Henshke and bandmates bassist Lachy Williams, guitarist Nic Hutton, and drummer Steve Dinning always looked like they were having a great time on stage and, for many bands, that’s half the battle. They certainly gained some new fans this night.
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It’s been five years since I last saw Atlas Genius play live and they haven’t missed a beat. The three brothers guitarist/lead vocalist Keith Jeffery, drummer Michael Jeffery, and keyboardist Steven Jeffery are now joined by bassist Nic Hutton (who also plays guitar for Normal Behaviour!). Now where have I heard of three Australian brothers in a band….The Bee Gees perhaps (yes I know they’re actually from Isle of Man)? Atlas Genius kicked off their set with “Stockholm” from their sophomore record “Inanimate Objects”, then “If So” from their debut album “When It Was Now”. The setlist was heavy on songs from their first album, four songs from their latest album, and two from their second album. Throw in a cover of Dead or Alive’s “You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)” and it was a fantastic set! They even added an unplanned song “Symptoms” that they hadn’t played at any other show. Keith kept the audience entertained with stories and banter in between songs with my favorite being about how he used to play in a small shop early in his career. When people would come to the window, he would be excited that they would come in to see him play but they were only looking at their reflections: thus the song “Through the Glass”. The small crowd of fans bounced and danced along to the songs all evening and the set did end sooner than many would have liked. The band was nice enough to hang around at the merch table afterwards and speak to, take pictures with, and sign autographs for their fans. Now that Atlas Genius is back on the scene, hopefully it will be much fewer than five years before I see them perform again.
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