Bill Janovitz and Crown Victoria, Fireworks on TV!
(Q Division )
3 1/2 Stars
Release Date: September 7, 2004
Reviewed by David Peisner We’ll spare you the shaming claptrap about
how if there was any justice in the world, sometime Buffalo Tom frontman Bill
Janovitz would be wiping his ass with 50 dollar bills and those clowns in Hoobastank
would be begging for gigs at the Exit 47 Quality Inn Lounge. We’ve come
to accept the fact that the rest of the world is stupid, so we get Bill Janovitz
largely to ourselves. Fireworks is his first record with a full band since 1998,
and echoes of Buffalo Tom’s hooky power-pop bound from every corner. Between
the rhythmic chug of chiming guitars and Janovitz’s sentimental lyrics,
“Almost Beating” may as well be a BT song. Ditto for the anthemic
“My Radio,” although the acoustic title track leans more in the
stripped-down direction of his past solo stuff. The gentle, sorta-earnest, sorta-winking
first-person tribute to teacher-turned-statutory-rapist Mary Kay Letourneau
(“Mary Kay”) is a bit of a departure, but Janovitz doesn’t
rely on surprises or gimmicks—just good songs. And a much smaller budget
than Hoobastank.