BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — As the days become shorter and fall begins, two Western New York bands -- Loveboxx and The Water Dogs -- have set the mood with projects containing darker tones, while a third -- Ellen Pieroni & the Encyclopedia of Soul released a groovy jazz album with a peppier sound. Rock artist akloh. also returned with another single in September. Buffalo Music Monthly - August 2024 Ellen Pieroni & the Encyclopedia of Soul Ellen Pieroni & the Encyclopedia of Soul released its debut album, "The Encyclopedia of Soul: Vol. I," in March 2023. In August, the jazz band put out its follow-up album, "Soul Vacation," which features nine songs. Ellen Pieroni & EoS, comprised of Pieroni on saxophone with guitarist Adam Bronstein, bassist James Benders and drummer Isaiah Gethers, were featured on NPR's "All Things Considered" this past July. The band frequently collaborates with keyboardists Tyler James and Marvin CJ Smith as well. "Soul Vacation" is an uplifting, smooth and, as its title insinuates, soulful record. Each member of the band has their chance to groove freely and the band's cohesiveness shows in its ability to move the listener in both its harmonies and its solos. Loveboxx Buffalo rock band Loveboxx released a new album, "Save Me," in August. Vocalist Mary Fantrazzo provides strong vocals that contrast well with the heavy guitar tones she sings above, soothing the aggressive tone of the instrumental. Lyrics are poetic and emotional, appropriate given the nature of the record. In addition to Fantrazzo, the band consists of guitarist Angelo Fantrazzo, bassist Seth Welty and drummer Ricky Leonard. The album evokes three main emotions surrounding broken relationships: despair ("Anxiety"), resignation ("Not Done With Heartache") and hope ("Best Boy"). The album's de facto title track, "Glass Hearts," implores that the speaker needs saving, but is incapable of doing any saving herself. Other songs provide an even more helpless and resigned note, with the speaker wishing to escape existence by any means necessary, while "Best Boy" stands alone as a hopeful track, insisting that outside forces can pull the relationship together despite distance. Loveboxx's next show will be at Rec Room on Nov. 23, playing support for Stemm along with Cloning Betty. The Water Dogs Alt-rock trio The Water Dogs released their latest single, "Meet Me Down the Rabbit Hole," on Sept. 27. The band, comprised of siblings Maria, Jarrett and Grace Brzycky, recorded the song at GCR Audio with audio engineer Fred Betschen. The song features chilling vocals over deep guitar riffs, also featuring frontwoman Maria Brzykcy on sitar, creating a sound that will fit in perfectly with its upcoming Halloween-inspired music video, directed by drummer Grace Brzycky, who also directed the band's last music video. The band recently performed at Buffalo's Music is Art Festival and has also performed at the Mesa Music Festival in Arizona, the Richmond County Fair on Staten Island and various other festivals and venues. akloh. After releasing three singles in August, akloh. came back with one more for the month of September. On Sept. 6, the rock musician added "stranded (road to shalala)" to his catalogue of recent releases. Like his EP "anthology part i," the new single is catchy in both its instrumental and its vocals, with lyrics from the point of view of someone stranded in their room. Buffalo Music Monthly - July 2024 Buffalo Music Monthly is a digital series created by Adam Duke to showcase artists from Western New York and their work. The series began as a weekly video feature, dubbed 'Music Monday,' and highlighted a total of 39 artists between September 2022 and June 2023. Those interested in being featured as part of the series can send info about upcoming releases and an accompanying mp3 file to [email protected]. Adam Duke is a digital contributor who joined WIVB in 2021. See more of his work here.