Token Hearts features familiar Atlanta music scenesters re-inventing themselves

A local super group? “At our age, it’s more like a supper group,” says Patrick O’Connor of this collaboration with partner Buffi Aguero.

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At the peak of the pandemic, while most of us were busy baking bread, painting or exploring yoga as we avoided public interaction, Atlanta-based musicians Buffi Aguero and Patrick O’Connor were busy writing songs.

“Just to get our creative juices flowing,” recalled O’Connor, “we decided to write some things together while everyone else was making sourdough bread. We’d not really had any time to write together, because we were both busy for so long with our own things.”

Aguero is best known as the drummer in iconic Atlanta post-punk combo Subsonics. Her partner, bassist O’Connor, is often recognized as his alter-ego character “Buzz Hagstrom” from Athens and Atlanta-based internationally touring garage rock ensemble The Woggles — and they have a considerable combined history.

“I met Patrick in London in the late ’80s,” continued Aguero. “But we were always busy with our own things, even back here in Atlanta. I had a ton of bands and he was either busy with the Blood Poets or whoever and then eventually the Woggles.”

After a post-pandemic visit to New York to record at NY Hed, an indie studio owned by their friends Matt Verta-Ray and Rocio Verta-Ray, the duo decided to continue their songwriting partnership. “As Buffi says, we’d both been in our own bands for years,” explained O’Connor. “But I don’t think we’d really ever given much attention to how we might sound together, as our own thing.”

Turns out, it wasn’t a particularly difficult process to combine the couple’s talents, likes and interests. “We share a record collection,” laughed Aguero, “So instinctively we kinda know what we both like and what we’re thinking about when we come together to write a song as a collaboration.”

“It’s like using a sort of memory muscle,” she continued. “Our projects, before this, have been different, but they all have the same sort of rock ‘n’ roll aesthetic in many ways. Before, with my other bands, I could bring in a song idea and we’d all contribute to it. But with Patrick and I, we write every single part together.”

Thus, the duo’s initial creative process wasn’t particularly frustrating. “Well … usually,” laughed O’Connor. “There was a bit of a learning curve for us. We had a sort of ‘proto’ version of the band where we’d just write anything, without being precious about stuff — just to see how it worked.”

The combination eventually proved more productive than they’d anticipated. “I tend to write more in the punk style, very basic, and it always seemed to work for whatever it was that I was doing,” continued Aguero.

But Aguero said O’Connor “really brings the sizzle to whatever it is that we’re doing. He’ll say, ‘Let’s try this background vocal’ or ‘Let’s try that,’ which was very different for me. I’d never really considered any of that before. He suggests all these layered parts, and it’s really made me grow as a musician, just to keep up with him.”

The result, said O’Connor, is a more “cohesive” sound than they’d expected. “I think we surprised ourselves, actually!”

Music fans familiar with the musicians’ lengthy history might easily lump Token Hearts into the “garage rock” swirl of bands that often play the Star Bar. Even though the musicians have frequently played the venerable venue with their other projects — and the Token Hearts album release show is at ground zero for garage and punk-infused acts — the band actually employs a much more sophisticated approach to the standard rock combo format.

“There’s some garagey-adjacent music on the album,” agrees O’Connor, “but we both grew up with so many different influences. Now we have a way to sort of channel all those instincts into a real live, somewhat mature rock band.”

“We’re both people who play live, in bands, in the moment,” continued Aguero. “But now, to have other musicians to bounce stuff off of has probably been the best thing ever. And one of the best things about us never having had a so-called hit record — there’s no pressure on us, so we can do whatever we want — and if we like it, then great!”  

Both agree that once their backing band was in place, the group became a cohesive unit. “Yeah,” said O’Connor. “Once we’d gotten Will Fratesi (Cat Power, Smoke) and Sam Leyja (The White Lights, The Vendettas), then the rest fell into place when Aguero’s Subsonics bandmate Clay Reed joined. The result is a low-key supergroup of Atlanta scenesters.

“I dunno about the ‘super-group’ thing,” cautioned O’Connor. “At our age, it’s more like a supper group. But I do feel like we’re all sort of re-inventing ourselves as we go along,”

Indeed, the band features the musicians in a much different light than their previous outings. “I really enjoy that part of our process. I’ve written songs for The Woggles, but Manfred [Jones] is the frontman. It’s quite a good challenge to be ‘on’ so much in this band. Same with Buffi playing guitar instead of the drums. We’re all changing it up a bit — and it’s fun.”

Both agree that the sounds on their new, self-titled album are a cautiously bold new step. “I think the songs on the record do sound like the ideas we had in our heads when we first started,” said Aguero. “But it’s always changing as we get more comfortable with it. So now it’s like maybe what we had in our heads might not even be what we really wanted, you know?”

Where & When

Token Hearts album release party, with The Delusionaires, Tarp Girls and DJ Malone Ranger, happens at 8 p.m. Saturday, August 30. $17.50 in advance; $20 night of show. Star Bar, 437 Moreland Ave. NE. 404-390-3062, starbaratl.bar.

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Lee Valentine Smith is an Atlanta-born artist, writer and musician. Currently a regular contributor to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, his work has been syndicated internationally. He has appeared at Music Midtown, on CBS Radio and on Air America. He also served as art director, consultant and archivist for projects with ’80s hitmakers The Go-Go’s.