Cute Is What We Aim For

Buffalo's Cute Is What We Aim For is likely the perfect 21st-century pop band. Almost purpose-built for short attention spans, CIWWAF focuses so heavily on pop sheen, hooks and scenester touchstones that it's often difficult to figure out the true sum of the parts. For a generation of kids raised on YouTube clips instead of movies, MP3s instead of albums and text-messaging instead of note-writing, though, the band is just what the doctor ordered. Historically, it's actually an interesting throwback to the '60s, where bands found favor by assimilating bits and pieces of whatever was trendy at the time, never really fleshing out a sound of their own. Functioning like a prism, ­CIWWAF absorbs the white light of modern pop music, scattering it back to their fans in a million brilliant, though evanescent, shards of color.