[3] Recording of the album began at The Car Club, and was eventually completed with producer Lee Prebble at The Surgery in Wellington.

He was replaced by Tom Callwood, who had previously provided double bass on the Merry Kriskmass track 'Forget It', and cello on Happy Ending.

[13][15] However some critics felt that the album was not as strong as their previous work, with Russell Baillie of The New Zealand Herald saying "much of the second half seems to go past in a pleasant mid-tempo haze".

Guardian reviewer, Dave Simpson, said it seemed "destined to be among the best of 2011", and the BBC's Andrzej Lukowski felt that "every second of Buffalo is wrought and layered with artisan care".

[2][12] As a result of the album's success, the band performed live on the BBC's ‘'Later... with Jools Holland'‘ on 25 October 2011.