"Fireworks on TV" available on this website : buy

"To those who have sat impatiently, wondering if Janovitz would ever reclaim his rock and roll spirit: rejoice in the staggering vitality of Fireworks on TV! . For those who are new to Janovitz's talents, here's as good a place to start as any. " -Pop Matters

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." - Maxim

"What's kept Janovitz on so many radar screens since Buffalo Tom's 1989 debut is the ease in which he taps into universal emotions without leaning on cliche. Fireworks furthers this reputation with a sound that's reminiscent of Grant Lee Buffalo, Old 97's and the dozens of bands that were born in Boston's legendary Fort Apache Studios." - Rolling Stone

"I strongly urge you to get this record and find out for yourself why I am excited about Bill Janovitz and Crown Victoria. "- Sound The Sirens

"Fireworks on TV! is a spirited gem, maybe one of the best of the year. If you think that there are no artists left that can play and write music with heart, here is this one exception." - New Beats

From Peter Gammons of ESPN (on ESPN.com ):
Jay (St. Louis): As a music fan, what band/singer would you consider your greatest find? Meaning who did you listen to way before they became big?
Peter Gammons: I think I was probably on Midnight Oil before they showed up in US record store bins. As for current music, I strongly recommend the new CD by Bill Janovitz. It is great.

Best of the year lists for "Up Here" and live shows:

Reno Gazette Journal
Acoustic-based record of the year

Bill Janovitz. The leader of Buffalo Tom released a solo record (Up
Here on SpinArt) full of grace and passion, proving you don't need
bluster to raise a fuss. Runner-up: Lucinda Williams;Essence; the
epitome of a quiet storm brewing

MARIN JORGENSEN
Billboard Magazine Special Sections
Coordinator:

7. Tie: Bill Janovitz, "Up Here"
(spinART) and
Dragstrip Courage, "Actual Space"
(Curve of the
Earth).

8. Blake Babies, "God Bless the
Blake Babies",
(Zoe/Rounder).

9. Live shows: Buffalo Tom, Dec. 1,
2000, at the
Troubadour in Los Angeles

WES ORSHOSKI:
Billboard Magazine Associate Editor:

3. Bill Janovitz, "Up Here" (spinART).

Sarah Rodman -- Boston Herald:

4. Bill Janovitz, ``Up Here'' (SpinArt). Buffalo Tom frontman's haunting
acoustic release.

Austin Chronicle
National Top 10s
BY MICHAEL BERTIN
January 4, 2002:

1. Wilco, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
2. The Strokes, Is This It (RCA)
3. Spoon, Girls Can Tell (Merge)
4. New Pornographers, Mass Romantic (Mint)
5. Pernice Brothers, The World Won't End (Ashmont)
6. Stephen Malkmus (Matador)
7. Cowboy Junkies, Open (UNI/ZOE)
8. Beulah, The Coast Is Never Clear (Velocette)
9. Bill Janovitz, Up Here (Spinart)
10. Leonard Cohen, Ten New Songs (Columbia)

From Rolling Stone

Bill Janovitz "Up Here"

On Up Here, his second solo album, former Buffalo Tom frontman Bill Janovitz hits his troubadour stride, delivering a gorgeous collection of folk tunes that resonate well after the final note has sounded. At times Janovitz sounds like Seventies-era Tom Waits sans the gravelly voice, particularly on the lovely "Half a Heart," a duet with Chris Toppin. Providing most of the instrumentation himself, Janovitz complements his vocals well, particularly on the sad tinge of "Your Stranger's Face," a track that boasts the melancholy sound of the lap steel sound. In Janovitz's impassioned world though, even the most mundane aspects of every day life have a sense of romance or drama to them. Who wouldn't want to visit a world like that?

STEVE BALTIN
(August 20, 2001)

Also:

Rolling Stone.com

"Lonesome" Bill Janovitz flies solo again
Buffalo Tom frontman wraps up second solo album

Buffalo Tom frontman Bill Janovitz has just completed sessions for a new solo album, his first since 1997's Lonesome Billy. Principally an acoustic record, Janovitz recorded the ten-song Up Here in Cambridge, Massachusetts' Fort Apache Studios with engineer Brian Brown. Coming to his aid were longtime BT keyboardist Phil Aiken and Fuzzy singer Chris Toppin, who previously dueted with Janovitz on Lonesome's "Red Balloon."

"It's not really the same as Lonesome Billy," Janovitz says. "It's got some country flare to it but it's mostly just folky, stripped down acoustic songs."

Janovitz has been shopping the record to upper tier indies and expects to have it out in the coming months, if not via a label than perhaps through his Web site at www.billjanovitz.com. In the meantime, he's also busying himself fronting a new outfit, Crown Victoria. Composed of Janovitz, Aiken, bassist Josh Lattanzi and ex-Letters to Cleo drummer Tom Polce, the band is also busy shopping for a label. As if all that weren't enough, Janovitz has yet another act, the Bathing Beauties. Something of Massachusetts supergroup, the band is Janovitz, Toppin, Paul Kolderie (who has produced albums for the likes of Radiohead and Hole), Mike Leahy (formerly of the Blake Babies) and Dean Fisher (formerly of the Juliana Hatfield Three). The Beauties play country covers and a host of original material in the "country, rock and soul range."

All will wait however while Buffalo Tom complete a rare string of West Coast dates. Beginning November 27 at Portland's Crystal Ballroom, the brief tour is to promote Asides of Buffalo Tom, a recently released collection of singles and fan favorites.

GREG HELLER
(November 17, 2000)