If It's Too Loud...

The Needy Sons started a few years back as a bar band that played mostly covers in and around Boston. Granted, they're a bar band that was founded by Bill Janovitz of Buffalo Tom and Mike Gent of The Figgs, but still a bar band. Unexpectedly, at least to us, The Needy Sons just released their debut fill length, Vis-A-Vis. The Needy Sons, which now also features Ed Valauskas and Eric Anderson, have the distinction of being a Bill Janovitz project that doesn't really sound anything like Buffalo Tom. It's just really good Americana tinged rock and roll, like the kind Tom Petty makes. Right now my two favorite tracks are "Red Line" and ""Chopped Down," although Vis-A-Vis feels like the kind of album that will give you a new favorite track each time you listen. Definitely the two most traditionally rockin' songs on the album, "Red Line" is somehow an ode to the embattled MBTA, or maybe love? I'm bad at the meanings behind songs. ...

The side project/moderate supergroup featuring Bill Janovitz of Buffalo Tom, Mike Gent of The Gentlemen, and Ed Valauskas of The Gravel Pit already have a new single out. This time around the A-side, "Too Thin," is sung and written by Mike Gent. It's a chilled out, mid-tempo track that's a great foil to Bill Janovitz's contribution, "Red Line." "Red Line" is a much faster, more rockin' song featuring a killer guitar solo. Both songs fit in perfectly with The Needy Sons' straightforward bar band feel. It's great seeing two established musicians and songwriters coming together to just have some fun with music on these songs. Hopefully next month will bring us some more. You can check out The Needy Sons on Bill Janovitz's Bandcamp . You can also check out h is website for all your other Bill Janovitz related needs. Too Thin/Red Line by The Needy Sons

The Needy Sons are the latest project from Bill Janovitz (Buffalo Tom) and a collaboration with Mike Gent of The Figgs. They've been playing the occasional show around the Boston area, with a good chunk taking place in Janovitz's current town of Lexington, MA. The band has functioned mostly as a bar band, playing a ton of covers and songs from both Janovitz's and Gent's back catalog. Now, we get the first original songs from The Needy Sons. "The Swimmer" is Janovitz's song, much funkier than his previous work. The song seems to be an ode to carefree summers of his youth, and seems like a natural extension from 2013's Walt Whitman Mall . Gent's contribution, "Superficial Kid," almost sounds like a lost Rollings Stones track mixed with Tom Petty. To listen to/purchase "The Swimmer"/"Superficial Kid," check out Bill Janovitz's Bandcamp . If you'd like to follow The Needy Sons specifically, they have a Facebo...