Buffalo Tom

Though born out of the same Boston alternative scene that produced Dinosaur Jr and The Pixies in the late-1980s, Buffalo Tom could never hide their love of classic rock and earnest songwriting with pitched melodic, rootsy nostalgia alongside the thrashing, growling guitars of the day.

Forming the band in 1986 whilst at University of Massachusetts, front man Bill Jankovitz was an intense, passionate character who grew up on the music of The Rolling Stones, Neil Young and Elvis Costello before later discovering punk rock and becoming a central figure of a small community of DIY, underground acts that sprung up in the town of Amherst. When like-minded contemporary J Mascis and his band Dinosaur Jr got their break and became lo-fi, indie favourites, it was his production and involvement on Buffalo Tom's self-titled debut album in 1988 that helped them land a deal with UK label Beggars Banquet. Taking their name as a nod to Buffalo Springfield and their own drummer Tom Maginnis, the trio honed their punchy sound on follow-up 'Birdbrain' and developed anthemic, melancholy ballads like 'Taillights Fade' on 1992's 'Let Me Come Over'.

But it was fourth album 'Big Red Letter Day' that stands as their landmark record. Filled with the sort of epic, grand alternative rock which the likes of The National and The Hold Steady would later perfect, it produced the radio hit 'Sodajerk' and rueful, heart-on-sleeve confessional 'I'm Allowed' which took the band to number 17 in the UK charts. After 1998's 'Smitten', the band went on hiatus to raise families and live more normal lives but returned in 2007 with the well-received 'Three Easy Pieces' and released their ninth studio album 'Quiet and Peace' in 2018.