seventeen years with bill janovitz, its been a pleasure
back in 1992, i believe it was, i read an interview with j mascis and in said interview j happened to mention bill janovitz and buffalo tom. believe he talked about producing their first two records, and maybe even saying something along the lines of having too much influence and weighing too heavy of a hand on their first record. i would absolutely agree with that sentiment, even if j actually never said that, and i am totally making it up. honestly, their self titled debut is pretty bad cause its a sound of a band being exactly what they are not. their follow up, birdbrain, with j still at the helm, sounds like a totally different band, and we’re all the better for it. in terms of consistency, i dont think there are any artists that are up to their level. one could argue that they stick to a formula, albeit an awesome one, and that they dont really “challenge” their audience/fans. to that i would say fuck “challenging.” great comeback, huh? in all seriousness, though, janovitz and buffalo tom have created a body of work that really any fan of no bullshit, what-you-see-is-what-you-get rock and roll would definitely find very much to their liking. like michael bolton, i celebrate their entire catalogue. if you do take my advice, i would start with let me come over or big red letter day and then maybe smitten or sleepy eyed. i would definitely start with let me come over, now that i think of it. his non buffalo tom is stuff is great as well, particularly his crown victoria record, fireworks on tv.
here’s what i think is the quintessential buffalo tom song
soda jerk off big red letter day
mr janovitz has been doing a covers of the week for about 35 weeks, and here a few of my favorites. check his site for them all, and for some cool/funny stories.
slip slidin away – paul simon
one step up – springsteen
no surprises – radiohead
agnes, queen of sorrow – will oldham
valentine’s day – steve earle
taillights fade
im allowed
soda jerk
3 Comments
Great post – I agree with all of it, except that in my opinion Buffalo Tom’s first album is good too.
But all their albums are great, really: it’s a bit like Teenage Fanclub: they put out a new album, at first you think: “O well, that sounds ok, a bit familiar, nothing special”, but after repeated listening you realize that it’s full of brilliant songs. Again. As is every album they’ve made.
I saw Buffalo Tom live a couple of times: I last saw them about two years ago, after ‘Three Easy Pieces’ was released and, as before, they were very good: over the years, they have written so many good songs that at a show, it’s one highlight after the other.
I recently was lucky enough to see Buffalo Tom in Boston at Paradise Lounge. They were totally on fire. played about 5 new tunes and they sounded great. Janovitz quipped that they will proably give the new album away for free because that’s the thing to do nowadays.
I was lucky enough to see BF many times over the last 14-15 years and i love their first 3 albums the most. ‘Let me come over’ is certainly the one to start with and their later albums are outstanding too. But i’m a fan of their ‘raw work’ and that’s what i’m finding back on their first 2 albums. But that’s just a humble Belgian opinion.