Buffalo were the great unsung act of Aussie hard rock back in the low to mid-‘70s. Their original Vertigo-issued vinyls are insanely expensive collector’s items and all manner of CD reissue, most of dodgy legal status, have occurred through the years. Now home country label Aztec has done a splendid, authorized job of reissuing the hirsute gang’s caveman distortions. Dead Forever is the ’72 debut and shows a band that is a bit wobbly, as well as unsure if they are a hard blues act, psych, or riff rock. Two covers (from Free and Blues Image) add to six originals, and a fuzzed-out crusty time is had by all. It all sounds a bit like Cream meets Budgie from the first two, with the closing title track being the chunkiest of the batch. The digi packaging rules completely, with a big-ass booklet stuffed with liner notes and rare pictures (hell, everything is rare about these guys). There are also five bonus tracks, two by pre-Buffalo band Head (one heavy psych, one harrowing light psych), and three non-LP single tracks, all of which are rote boogie woogie numbers (two covers, one original). But the original album is an amusing if obscure good time, Buffalo being the base, ground zero, rude ‘n’ crude establishing force for the hard boogie rock Australia would become known for through the international success of The Angels, Heaven, Rose Tattoo and…one other, the name escapes me. Note: this is the third of Aztec’s reissue program, with all five Buffalo albums eventually on plate, Volcanic Rock (’73) and Only Want You For Your Body (’74) arguably being the dirt rock classics.