If It's Too Loud...

Bill Janovitz has been releasing music for almost four decades, but the Buffalo Tom singer/guitarist has never released a Christmas song before. "Christmas Eve" is his first one, and it's worth the wait. It's a stripped down track, just Janovitz and his guitar. If you're familiar with his solo work, you know what to expect with "Christmas Eve." It's a melancholy track that could just be a great solo song, and if you're not paying attention, you might not realize it's a Christmas song until the jingle bells come in towards the end. If you're more into 90's alt-rock legends releasing solo songs more than you are into Christmas carols, "Christmas Eve" is perfect for you. You can listen to "Christmas Eve" below. The song is available now via Bandcamp . For more on Bill Janovitz, check out the artist's website . Christmas Eve by Bill Janovitz

Buffalo Tom and Belly are two of my favorite bands of all time. Bill Janovitz and Tanya Donelly have made music and performed together multiple times over the years, but I had never seen the two bands together. As soon as I heard they were playing together up at State Theater in Portland, ME, I knew it was time for a roadtrip and an overnight stay! Belly took the stage first (in Providence, RI the next night the two bands swapped and Belly played last). It's easy to forget just how many amazing songs the band has. After opening with "Low Red Moon," they played "Super-Connected," "Gepetto," and "Slow Dog" all in a row. That's three of my all time favorite songs, and we weren't even past the first fifteen minutes of the night. For a band that plays sporadically, they sounded incredibly tight, but also loose enough to be enjoying themselves and allow for some change ups in the song. After battling some sound issues early on (Donelly'...

Doing Anything this Weekend? is a feature here at If It's Too Loud... where we feature some live shows in and on the far outskirts of the Boston area. Our main rules are that they have to be reasonably priced shows that you can attend last minute. They'll feature If It's Too Loud... approved bands, and we'll provide event links when possible. And since we're in outdoor music season, these events are weather permitting. If you're looking for last minute plans this weekend, we recommend: Friday September 13 Jedediah Parish and Mike Gent at Q Division Studios, Cambridge, MA DeVotchka and Savoir Faire at The Sinclair, Cambridge, MA Buffalo Tom and Belly at State Theater, Portland, ME Bongwish, Mother Fungus, The P.A.'s, and Little Miss Echo at Deep Cuts, Medford, MA Feminine Aggression, Perennial, and Juana B Ontop at Holyoke Media, Holyoke, MA Saturday September 14 Moon Over Salem Festival featuring Actor Observer, Hell Beach, dropbear, The Freqs, Oldsoul, Astr...

Doing Anything this Weekend? is a feature here at If It's Too Loud... where we feature some live shows in and on the far outskirts of the Boston area. Our main rules are that they have to be reasonably priced shows that you can attend last minute. They'll feature If It's Too Loud... approved bands, and we'll provide event links when possible. And since we're in outdoor music season, these events are weather permitting. If you're looking for last minute plans this weekend, we recommend: Friday May 31 The Wolff Sisters and Molly O'Leary at Askew, Providence, RI Zip-Tie Handcuffs, Kal Marks, and Idiot Genes at Deep Cuts, Medford, MA Buffalo Tom at The Drake, Amherst, MA Hubby Jenkins at The Porch Southern Fare & Juke Joint, Medford, MA The Promised End, Origami Summer, Miniluv, and One Fall at Koto, Salem, MA Abigail Lapell and Helen Hummel at The Parlor Room, Northampton, MA Saturday June 1 Abigail Lapell and Audrey Pearl at Club Passim, Cambridge, MA Fiel...

Photo by Kelly Davidson Studio Leave it to Buffalo Tom to release a song called "Autumn Letter" right at the beginning of Spring. The Boston alt-rock legends' latest single is a quiet power ballad that just sounds like vintage Buffalo Tom. It's a little bit quieter and more laid back, but that's just about perfect at this stage of all of our lives. It's a little country and a little folk, but they've always added those elements into their alt-rock sound. Plus, some of their most beloved songs are power ballads, and "Autumn Letter" certainly qualifies. Sonically, the song certainly sounds like a Fall song, but there is enough optimism for it to still work this early into Spring. Bill Janovitz (vocals/guitar) says of his band's latest single: “It reminds me of a certain kind of classic Buffalo Tom song from our Let Me Come Over era. It’s big, open chords are strummed way up high on the capo’d guitar neck, with a little Van Morrison Celtic melo...

Photo by Kelly Davidson Studio Buffalo Tom are experiencing a career renaissance lately, selling out every show they're playing and starting to release music again. For a band coming up on their fortieth year, what's remarkable is how great the new songs are. The latest is "New Girl Singing" (an ode to the band's favorite female voices including Mavis Staples, Grace Paley, Stacey Abrams, and Ruth Gordon) is a Chris Colbourn song that fits right into Buffalo Tom's classic 90's songs. It's an alt-rock song leaning heavily into 60's rock, folk, and country (all things I never would have admitted twenty-five years ago). Sure, it's a little slower than the classics, but aren't we all. This is a band entering their middle aged years perfectly without leaving behind what we've always loved from them in the past.  You can watch the video for "New Girl Singing" below. Jump Rope is due out May 31. For more on Buffalo Tom, check out the ...

Photo by Kelly Davidson Studio Buffalo Tom are coming up on their fortieth year of being a band, and the Boston based trio just released a brand new single. "Helmet" could be a lost B-side from the 90's. It has that alt-rock with some hints of country that Buffalo Tom perfected thirty years ago, although I never would have admitted that back then. This one is just under two and a half minutes of a rambin' kinda mid-tempo rocker that is going to press the nostalgia button for a lot of us despite being brand new. It's a little bit slower than most of Buffalo Tom's classic songs, but that's to their credit with "Helmet."  Guitarist Bill Janovitz says of the new single: “As with most things in Buffalo Tom, we have a chemistry and a natural sound that emerges no matter how we try to manipulate it. ‘Helmet’ is a prime example of this phenomenon, a song that could be at home on any of our previous records, but I associate it mostly with the layered cris...

Image by Daykamp Creative Buffalo Tom are one of those bands I try to go see every time they play locally. They're a legendary local band and their Boston area shows always have an intimate feel no matter how large of a venue they play. I also love exploring former mental hospitals, so since they played an early evening show at Bellforge Arts Center at the site of the former Medfield State Hospital, I couldn't resist. The band opened up their set with "Summer," which despite being one of my favorites of theirs, was the perfect song to get the crowd that was mostly sitting back in lawn chairs up on their feet and towards the stage. Plus, it's the perfect song for the summer that refuses to end here in New England. Despite not playing out a ton these days, Buffalo Tom always nail that perfect mixture of loose and tight that you can only get from playing together for over three decades. It's also easy to forger just how many great songs Buffalo Tom have. "Ta...

We've dropped the ball in telling you about the Bellforge Arts Center's line up this year, and for that we apologize. Located on the former grounds of the Medfield State Hospital (just visiting the site to see the old buildings is highly recommended), Bellforge "... nurtures community, creativity and self-expression through the arts."  August closes out with three upcoming free with RSVP concerts. They have two Summer Sounds shows left: Thursday August 24 with Summer Cult and Senseless Optimism and Thursday August 31 with Dino Gala and Cape Crush! This Saturday is Flow at the 'Forge - Celebrating 50 Years of Hip-Hip which features performances from Brandie Blaze, SeeFour, and ExitFame.  In September they switch things over to ticketed events. September 9 sees a performance by alt-rock legends Buffalo Tom. September 16 and 17 is the Commonwealth Fest, a two day festival curated by Cousin Stizz and featuring Supersmashbroz, Michael Christmas, Jiles of Van Buren, and...

Back in the pre-digital days consumers would be screwed regularly by B-sides and rarities. I spent a lot of money on import CD singles just to get that one rarity song that wasn't on the album. And, of course, eventually it would just be released on a rarities compilation. But... I still had to have it first.  That's one thing I love about the modern music industry. A B-side or rarity can just be uploaded on the internet, quite often by the artist themselves. You can even get an artist going way out of their standard musical fare with an experimental song without having to spend $20 to hear it. Over the weekend, Bill Janovitz released "SKUNK" on Bandcamp. We all know Buffalo Tom's 90's alt-rock classics and should be familiar with Janovitz's more singer/songwriter solo work, but "SKUNK" is nothing like anything we've heard from him before.  It's a just shy of two minutes funky as hell psychedelic instrumental jam song.  You would swear th...

Throughout the pandemic and quarantine, Bill Janovitz has been doing virtual happy hours livestreams. Back in February he left his house and recorded one in Q Division Studios in Somerville. That one has been remixed and released with the snappy title Live From Q Division Studios. It's a twenty one song "warts and all" release. With the exception of Laura St. Clair joining him for vocals and maracas on two songs, it's just Janovitz and his guitar or a piano, playing a ton of Buffalo Tom (including "Treehouse" and "Taillights Fade") and solo songs, plus a few covers, including "Little Mascara" by The Replacements. As someone who has been desperately missing his monthly shows at The Burren (located a few blocks from Q Division), this is a great temporary replacement until we can go back.  You can listen to "Treehouse" below. Live From Q Division Studios  is available on Bill Janovitz's Bandcamp. For more on Bill Janovitz, chec...

Normally Bill Janovitz covering a Bruce Springsteen classic would be a reason to celebrate, but that doesn't feel appropriate for this one, despite it being a fantastic cover. Janovitz has released a cover of "Thunder Road," and while the cover is absolutely fantastic, the reason he recorded this particular song from the Boss is a tragedy. Janovitz explains on his Bandcamp: "A friend of ours recently lost her husband, and her two boys lost their father. We lost a friend. Cancer. Mike battled hard. He made sure that the first song each of the boys heard in their lives, on the way back from the hospital after being born, was 'Thunder Road.' Sue asked if I would record it for his memorial, which accompanied a heartrending slide show. I wanted to share this recording for a charity that has helped this family. All proceeds will be passed along to the Marjorie E. Korff Parenting At a Challenging Time [PACT] Program, which has been 'a life raft during the most d...

It's no secret that we've been adoring Tanya Donelly's Sunday Series of cover songs. She's putting that project on hold for the time being, but not before giving us one doozy of a gift. Big Love Bends Time EP is a collection of four songs from Donelly and guests. The first song breaks from the cover format and is a new song from Donelly and her Belly bandmate Gail Greenwood. "Big Love Bends Time" is a hypnotic and dreamy ballad that will suck you in unlike any other song you've heard in years. This track is seriously addictive. From there the covers start. For a cover of Buffalo Tom's wildly underrated 1992 song "Frozen Lake," Donelly brings in Bill Janovitz for backing vocals. Any time Donelly and Janovitz team up is a joy, and this time is no different. Also included is "Swim" from Madder Rose with Donelly's husband Dean Fisher on backing vocals and Robyn Hitchcock's "Sweet Ghost of Light" with Gail Greenwood r...

Forgotten Fridays is an occasional feature here at If It’s Too Loud... where we go back and find the lost records of our glory days. We played these on our college radio shows, put them on countless mix tapes, and then forgot they existed. We go back and remind you of their existence, and help decide if they were any good. Bill Janovitz has a handful of solo albums out. Way back in 1996 saw the release of his first solo album, Lonesome Billy. The songs on Lonesome Billy were mostly songs written for Buffalo Tom but didn't quite fit in. It's easy to see why. While the album's opener, "Girl's Club," has some of Buffalo Tom's trademark noise mixed into their 90's alt-rock sound, the very next song, "Think of All," is purely a folk/country song. Looking back, a lot of this sound has worked its way into Buffalo Tom, but in 1996 this was almost a complete departure. "Shoulder" sounds like it could be a demo for a Buffalo Tom song, but...

Today two fantastic mostly local music festivals were announced in the Boston suburbs. Both have plenty of If It's Too Loud... approved artists and are highly recommended.  Brite Lites Music Festival Night Shift Brewing, Everett, MA 7/27/19 Happening just over two weeks from now is the second edition of the Brite Lites Music Festival at Night Shift Brewing in Everett, MA. Headlining the day's festivities are longtime blog favorite Weakened Friends. Far from just being a showcase of 90's inspired indie rock, the festival also features the folk/Americana stylings of The Wolff Sisters and two "how are they not international megastars?" Boston hip hop artists Cliff Notez and Oompa. Oompa in particular is ridiculous live, so make sure you get there early enough to catch her. There are also a few artists we're not familiar with, but what's a festival without a few discoveries? Speaking of getting there early, the event is free before 11:00 am, and $10 at...

One of the best things about living in the Boston area are shows like last Saturday night's Bill Janovitz performance at The Burren. The Buffalo Tom frontman played a laid back solo set at a 100 person dinner venue in the back room of an Irish pub. Such a small venue and Janovitz's easy rapport with the audience made this an incredibly intimate show, particularly with the special guests for the evening. The set list was made up almost entirely from social media audience requests. This truly lead to a unique song selection. You got Buffalo Tom favorites like "Fortune Teller," "Mineral," and "Dry Land." In fact, "Taillights Fade," the most obvious choice for a Buffalo Tom song, wasn't requested but added by Janovitz as one of the few non requests. The crowd was also versed in Janovitz's solo career, requesting songs from way back to his 1996 solo album Lonesome Billy , "Mary Kay" (an ode to Mary Kay Letourneau and her ...

I love Halloween, but even I think I may have gone a bit too far on this year's If It's Too Loud... Halloween playlist. Starting on November 1, 2017, I started a playlist and tossed just about any song I thought would be good for a Halloween playlist on it. What we end up with is a forty five song, nearly three hour playlist. Just about every style of music we cover is included on this. You get indie rock legends (Luna, Buffalo Tom, Lee Ranaldo), heavier artists (The Jesus Lizard, Clutch, Faith No More), Americana/roots (Sarah Shook & The Disarmers, Lucero, Murder By Death), current indie rockers (Caroline Rose, Melkbelly, A Place to Bury Strangers), some hip hop (Mr. Lif, Cypress Hill), and a whole lot more. It's perfect for this weekend's Halloween parties (which is why we aren't waiting until Monday) and to listen to while you hand out candy on Wednesday. Enjoy!

I think it's fairly safe to say that Bill Janovitz isn't a fan of Donald Trump's. He's released a song on his Bandcamp called "Mar-A-Lago" which is about our current President and his favorite weekend vacation destination. As Janovitz says about the song: "' Mar-A-Lago' seemed like it should be the title of a yacht rock/soft rock/country rock song from the 1970s, so I wrote and recorded one." It might be the most mellow and soothing protest song ever recorded. It includes references to Robert Mueller and how Melania Trump was possibly missing for a month. Of course, the song was released the same day Melania made her first public appearance in nearly a month. It's most likely a coincidence, but we're going to go ahead and give Janovitz credit for finally forcing her to come out of hiding.  You can listen to "Mar-A-Lago" below. The song is currently available on Bill Janovitz's Bandcamp for $1 with all proceeds going...

Boston used to be a great city for free live music. Back in the 90's, both modern rock radio stations, WFNX and WBCN, used to host free shows at the Hatch Shell and City Hall Plaza multiple times each summer. There was the notorious Green Day show in 1994, and shows featuring Letters to Cleo, Folk Implosion, Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Amazing Royal Crowns, and more, all for free. The last big free show was the Outside the Box Festival back in 2013 that featured Buffalo Tom, The Lemonheads, and Mighty Mighty Bosstones. There have been a few smaller free live shows since then, but those have been pretty sparse, and have featured bands like Smashmouth. It's made me dream of cities with great, free live music like NYC, or even Portsmouth, NH's Prescott Park Art Festival. Thanks, to WERS, free live music is coming back to Boston this summer. Somehow a college radio station has put together the show of the summer, all for free on the Boston Common. They've announced four b...

It got way too busy, so here's some quick hits. Must Listens : Lucy Dacus - Historian : Believe the hype. This is not only the best album of this week, but maybe of 2018 so far. It's a brilliant record that combines the best of Margaret Glaspy, Sharon Von Etten, and a ton of our favorite singer-songwriters lately to bring a raw, compelling album that just sticks to your guts. I loved it on first listen, and I put it back on earlier today because I wanted to and it just has so many great layers. Don't miss out on this. Tracey Thorn - Record : If I’m being honest with myself, I’ve liked but haven’t loved Thorn’s solo work. That changed considerably with this latest effort, which feels more essential and urgent than anything she has put out since her Everything But the Girl days. I’d expect things to not be this way given Thorn’s lengthy career up to now, but there are just so many songs on this record that are rock solid. If you’ve jumped off the bandwagon, now i...