{"id":3944,"date":"2013-04-19T16:25:23","date_gmt":"2013-04-19T16:25:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lbpost.com\/articles\/life\/whatever-happened-to-suburban-rhythm-the-unsung-music-of-long-beach-california-part-3-2\/"},"modified":"2013-04-19T16:25:23","modified_gmt":"2013-04-19T16:25:23","slug":"whatever-happened-to-suburban-rhythm-the-unsung-music-of-long-beach-california-part-3-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/hi-lo\/whatever-happened-to-suburban-rhythm-the-unsung-music-of-long-beach-california-part-3-2","title":{"rendered":"Whatever Happened to Suburban Rhythm? The Unsung Music of Long Beach, California: Part 3"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Ed. note: This is Part 2 of a longform nonfiction piece on Long Beach’s often-overlooked music scene that eventually became my thesis. The first part was posted Wednesday<\/a>, and the second was published on Thursday<\/a> (please read them before moving on; all the parts rely on each other for information)<\/a>. Today, there is a public discussion and panel I will be co-presenting on the topic–along with Cal State Long Beach’s American Studies Program Director Brett Mizelle and local musicians Dennis Owens and Marshall Goodman–as part of the EMP Pop Music Conference being held at USC. For more information on the EMP Pop Music Conference and to see L.A.’s schedule of talks, visit empmuseum.org<\/a>. To live stream the talk, click here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"avibuffalo\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

Truth Sets In <\/strong><\/p>\n

It was only 10:15PM when the cops showed up. A Long Beach Police Department squad car drove onto the front lawn of the house at 5th St. and Rose Ave. and announced to the living room full of spectators that they were to vacate the premesis. Avi Buffalo\u2014a four-piece Long Beach band of then-high schoolers who had only played three of their intimate indie-rock songs by the time the black and whites arrived\u2014calmly unplugged their instruments and waited for drummer Sheridan Riley\u2019s dad to pull the minivan around.<\/p>\n

\u201cSorry guys,\u201d singer and songwriter Avigdor Zahner-Isenberg told the 75-or-so people who had piled into the frequent site of house shows that night in May 2009. Outside, as his band loaded equipment into a navy blue Toyota Sienna under the watchful eye of the police, barely-18-year-old Zahner-Isenberg accepted hugs from disappointed friends talked with his band\u2019s manager, a low-key blonde from L.A. She loves their new material, she said. She sees a lot of opportunities for them on the horizon.<\/p>\n

Within a year, Avi Buffalo would be the first Long Beach band to take over the blogosphere\u2014Zahner-Isenberg’s curly fretwork, world-wise lyrics and pop charm won over harsh critics everywhere from Rolling Stone to Pitchfork even before their self-titled debut album became the soundtrack to 2010\u2019s endless summer.<\/p>\n