cold water flat was an american band formed in 1990 by paul janovitz (vocals and guitar), ted silva (bass) and paul harding (drums) when the trio studied at university of massachusetts amherst. paul is the younger brother of bill janovitz, lead singer and songwriter of buffalo tom. they began playing shows in boston before janovitz moved to new york; the group nearly split up, but when european label play it again sam offered to release an album, they reconsidered. in 1995 they signed with mca records and released a self-titled second album, recorded at fort apache studios, but despite getting some airplay mainly in us college radio stations the band did not reach a wider audience. soon after the group disbanded; janovitz went on to join dragstrip courage.