Buffalo Tom

Emerging amid the transition from 1980s college rock into the alt-rock surge of the following decade, Buffalo Tom endured changing tastes and commercial swings to rank among their era's lasting rock acts. The Boston trio gradually softened the aggressive guitar attack that initially drew "Dinosaur Jr. junior" comparisons with their self-titled 1988 debut, a shift that crystallized fast: Let Me Come Over arrived in 1992 and expanded their reach across the U.S. and U.K. thanks to the poignant ballad "Taillights Fade." Throughout the '90s, Big Red Letter Day and Sleepy Eyed maintained the band's proximity to the alt-rock mainstream on both sides of the Atlantic. After issuing Smitten in 1998, the group entered a hiatus spanning nearly ten years. Buffalo Tom resumed activity with Three Easy Pieces in 2007 and continued periodic touring alongside fresh releases such as Quiet and Peace in 2018 and Jump Rope in 2024.

Guitarist/vocalist Bill Janovitz, bassist/vocalist Chris Colbourn, and drummer Tom Maginnis formed Buffalo Tom in 1986 while attending the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The band soon integrated into Boston's vibrant college rock community, forging a connection with Dinosaur Jr. guitarist J. Mascis, who co-produced both the 1988 self-titled debut issued on SST and Birdbrain, which surfaced on Beggars Banquet/RCA in 1990.

Buffalo Tom expanded their sonic palette on the 1992 Beggars Banquet/RCA album Let Me Come Over. Anchored by singles "Taillights Fade," "Velvet Roof," and "Mineral," the record earned favorable U.K. notices and landed on year-end lists from Melody Maker and NME. Its 1993 follow-up, Big Red Letter Day, adopted a more expansive production, most evident on the single "Sodajerk," which also featured on the My So-Called Life soundtrack; like its predecessor, the album appeared on NME's annual list.

Sleepy Eyed, released in 1995, adopted a more streamlined approach than the prior effort, whereas 1998's Smitten incorporated keyboards to widen the group's textures. Though Buffalo Tom's cultural footprint remained visible at decade's end—including a 1999 film titled Tail Lights Fade starring Breckin Meyer, Jake Busey, and Denise Richards—the trio entered hiatus following the 2000 compilation Asides from Buffalo Tom; two years later Beggars Banquet issued the companion Besides: A Collection of B-Sides and Rarities.

After several years away, Buffalo Tom resurfaced in 2007 with an SXSW appearance and the New West full-length Three Easy Pieces. Their eighth studio album, Skins, emerged in early 2011 via the band's own Scrawny Records imprint. Around this period Janovitz turned toward writing, releasing a 33 ⅓ volume on the Rolling Stones' Exile On Main Street and maintaining the Part Time Man of Rock blog that sometimes included personal cover recordings. In 2013 he published his second book, Rocks Off: 50 Tracks That Tell the Story of the Rolling Stones. While Buffalo Tom operated on a limited basis, they reconvened for occasional concerts; after Beggars Banquet issued an expanded 25th-anniversary edition of Let Me Come Over in 2017, the trio scheduled a brief U.S. and European tour. Post-tour they entered the studio to complete songs begun in 2016, resulting in the March 2018 ninth album Quiet and Peace, which contained ten originals plus a cover of Simon & Garfunkel's "The Only Living Boy in New York." Following another six-year pause during which Janovitz released his third book, the best-selling Leon Russell: The Master of Space and Time's Journey Through Rock & Roll History, Buffalo Tom delivered their tenth studio album, Jump Rope, in 2024. The group self-produced the record, with David Minehan of the Neighborhoods and the Replacements engineering. Just before its May release, Buffalo Tom supplied the theme song for the sitcom Extended Family, which starred Jon Cryer, Donald Faison, and Abigail Spencer.