Buffalo Tom’s 1990 J Mascis-produced breakthrough still burns with heart and volume
I’ve been enjoying the new podcast States of Independence, which in its first season shines a light on the record label Beggars Banquet — the goth-leaning label that struck early gold with Gary Numan and became one of the coolest UK indies of the ’80s and early ’90s before evolving into an empire as the Beggars Group, home to 4AD, XL, and Matador.
This week’s season penultimate episode featured an interview with Bill Janovitz of Buffalo Tom, one of the first American groups to sign with the label, which made me want to revisit their second album — also their first for Beggars Banquet.
With a raging, fuzzy, and deafeningly loud guitar attack, Boston’s Buffalo Tom earned the affectionate nickname “Dinosaur Jr Jr” in the late ’80s — not least because J Mascis produced their first two albums: 1988’s self-titled debut (released on SST) and this one, their 1990 college radio smash “Birdbrain“. While there was a definite sonic kinship with Dino Jr’s ragged squall, Buffalo Tom hit from the heart, with Janovitz writing deeply affecting songs like “Skeleton Key,” “Fortune Teller,” and “Enemy.”
This and the first album are like 2 peas in a pod. Both have that Dinosaur Jr Jr thing about them. Both where co-produced by J Mascis, although he doesn’t play on this one, and both have that bruised battered and smashed guitar sound with the broken vocals of Bill Janovitz lashed over the top.
This is a headier ride than the previous excellent album adding a few more twists and turns; especially with the barnstorming opener of “Birdbrain” with it’s abrasive jagged riff and obscure lyrics about hanging out in bushes etc. The brakes are instantly put on to great effect with the next song, “Skeleton Key”. It is here where you can hear the sparseness of the production and really hear the quiet in the songs.
“Caress” carries on with more of the same, drums, bass and vocals before a jangly guitar joins in. It is so simple but it works so well. More like Nirvana in their simplicity than say, Dinosaur Jr. The solos are still absolutely blistering, just like the first album, and this is probably where the tag comes from, the solos made with waves of distortion and bleeding notes. They’d go on to make more nuanced records like “Let Me Come Over” and “Big Red Letter Day”, but “Birdbrain” collision of noise and emotion makes it an all-timer — one that might’ve been even bigger if it had landed just a year or two later, after “Nevermind” broke.
Buffalo Tom – “Birdbrain” (Beggars Banquet, 1990)
The Fat Angel Sings 