Nothing if not a model of consistency, Buffalo Tom has been making the same decent-to-great music since 1992’s Let Me Come Over. Actually the Massachusetts trio’s third album, Let Me Come Over feels more like a debut, as it zeroed in brilliantly on the group’s strengths, namely the earnest, imagery-laden, acoustic-gone-electric songwriting of guitarist Bill Janovitz and bassist Chris Colbourn and the propulsive punk undercurrents supplied by drummer Tom Maginnis. Judging by the band’s latest, Skins (Scrawny), it’s a formula that still has legs. Skins is the group’s eighth album and second since reuniting after a 10-year (sort-of) break, and its world-weary lilt and been-there/done-that themes make it the perfect grown-up companion piece to Let Me Come Over’s reluctant coming-of-age angst. It may be the best thing the band has done since that LP. Buffalo Tom will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our new Q&A with Janovitz and Colbourn.
Maginnis: The Beastie Boys’ second album would probably cost millions to make today because of copyright fees or the lawsuits it would generate. The layers that this album contains is just mindboggling. The Dust Brothers and the Beasties are allowed to run riot, using whatever the hell they want in the early, wild-West days of sampling. This website makes a valid attempt to break it all down for you. Armed with YouTube, you can just search to hear or watch the actual songs within seconds. You’ll find stuff you’ve never heard of, from the ridiculous to the sublime to the Beatles. Not only do they create something entirely unique with this musical stew, in many cases they improve on the originals. And the lyrics are hilarious, too.
Video after the jump.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-f0510qYnk
