Post by Kathy on Sept 2, 2004 20:06:11 GMT -5
Replacement parts: New Stinson and Westerberg CDs are better than a reunion
Chris Riemenschneider, Star Tribune
September 3, 2004
"Someday something of use will come of the blood and the blues of this wasted youth."
--Tommy Stinson, "Someday"
When the Replacements called it quits 13 years ago, with just a smidgen of commercial success under their belt, who would have thought Paul Westerberg and Tommy Stinson would be where they are now? Which is essentially where they were then.
Never mind Stinson's ongoing gig as the bassist in Guns N' Roses, although obviously no one would have guessed in 1991 that he would trade Paul for Axl. And forget Westerberg's equally unusual domesticity/phobia, or whatever it is that keeps him from leaving the house.
The two former bandmates -- whose stories inevitably manage to intertwine, anyway -- are at a convergence again this week in Minneapolis. Stinson is returning home to promote his new CD, "Village Gorilla Head," with two shows Saturday and Sunday at the Uptown Bar & Grill. Then on Tuesday, Westerberg will issue "Folker," the latest batch of recordings from his basement here in town.
What's surprising about these new albums -- besides the pretty-easy-to-come-to opinion that Stinson's is actually a little better than Westerberg's -- is that they really show how unnecessary and all-out redundant a Replacements reunion would be.
Gone are the wild nights of debauchery that (sadly) have become the core of the band's legacy. But otherwise, neither guy's status or approach to music has changed. They're no more rock stars today than they were in 1991, despite what Paul has said about Tommy joining GNR. (And, really, how rock-star is it sitting around in a studio waiting for Axl Rose to get his acupuncture?)
There's a quality in both singers' music that comes from the fact that they're still not famous. They're still the same trend-ignoring, working-class guys with high-class inspiration. To use an analogy to one of their influences, Rod Stewart, neither guy has left the mindset of the Faces, nor are they trying to record "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?"
Are they still punk? Westerberg's album, like his other CDs of the past three years, is raw, unpolished and, at times, visceral enough to be called punk. But it's largely a downbeat, melody-driven CD with nary a hint of angst.
If it's loud guitars and gritted teeth you're looking for, Stinson's disc has plenty. "Couldn't Wait" and "Motivation" are fiery, Johnny Thunders sound-alikes with a little "Exile on Main Street" hyper-blues. Even the poppy rockers, "Something's Wrong" and "Not a Moment Too Soon," have a great live energy.
Stinson recorded the album -- his first official solo disc, but really his third counting full-length releases with Perfect and Bash & Pop -- in Frank Black's home studio with drummer pals Gersh and Josh Freese, as well as GNR keyboardist Dizzy Reed. There's a real-band feel to it. At his gigs this weekend, he will be backed by a full-time unit, Seattle-based Alien Crime Syndicate, which will also play its own set.
But Stinson's album also offers plenty of acoustic-based, down-tempo songs that he can pull off on his own. And these are the songs that put it in a league of greatness. The fearful, post-Sept. 11 opener "Without a View" is his most sophisticated tune to date, while the closing "Someday" sounds like a more soulful, aged rewrite of the Replacements' "Unsatisfied."
While Tommy has affectionately covered Loudon Wainwright III's "One Man Guy" at recent shows, Paul's the guy who really fits the song well. Even more than his other albums going back to 2002's "Stereo/Mono,"Folker" sounds like a one-man show, not just in the loose recording technique but especially in the songwriting.
"It's sort of the final piece of the puzzle," Westerberg said after finishing the disc last year.
"Folker" does take the guy-in-a-basement thing about as far as it can go, for better and worse. It's an alluringly lonely record. Songs such as the perfectly frumpy "My Dad" and the soft lament "Looking Up in Heaven" deal in loss with unabashed honesty. On the other hand, the opening and closing tunes, "Jingle (Buy It)" and "Folk Star," are plain old silly, the kind of stuff you make up on a long, solo car trip just to amuse yourself.
The album's best songs sound like open-wound moans. In "How Can You Like Him?" he sings with the heartache of a dumped teenager, while in "New Life" he searches for the old spark (and finds it): "I want to breathe some new life/ Ain't happened yet/ Ain't holding my breath."
Of course, even with all its heart and with melodies that sound ripe for radio play, "Folker" probably won't see any above-normal commercial success, just as Stinson's record probably isn't flashy or niche-ready enough to get much mainstream attention.
But by now, who cares? At least Stinson and Westerberg achieved one thing with their albums: They finally can say that the breakup of the Replacements was a good thing and not sound full of it.
Chris Riemenschneider, Star Tribune
September 3, 2004
"Someday something of use will come of the blood and the blues of this wasted youth."
--Tommy Stinson, "Someday"
When the Replacements called it quits 13 years ago, with just a smidgen of commercial success under their belt, who would have thought Paul Westerberg and Tommy Stinson would be where they are now? Which is essentially where they were then.
Never mind Stinson's ongoing gig as the bassist in Guns N' Roses, although obviously no one would have guessed in 1991 that he would trade Paul for Axl. And forget Westerberg's equally unusual domesticity/phobia, or whatever it is that keeps him from leaving the house.
The two former bandmates -- whose stories inevitably manage to intertwine, anyway -- are at a convergence again this week in Minneapolis. Stinson is returning home to promote his new CD, "Village Gorilla Head," with two shows Saturday and Sunday at the Uptown Bar & Grill. Then on Tuesday, Westerberg will issue "Folker," the latest batch of recordings from his basement here in town.
What's surprising about these new albums -- besides the pretty-easy-to-come-to opinion that Stinson's is actually a little better than Westerberg's -- is that they really show how unnecessary and all-out redundant a Replacements reunion would be.
Gone are the wild nights of debauchery that (sadly) have become the core of the band's legacy. But otherwise, neither guy's status or approach to music has changed. They're no more rock stars today than they were in 1991, despite what Paul has said about Tommy joining GNR. (And, really, how rock-star is it sitting around in a studio waiting for Axl Rose to get his acupuncture?)
There's a quality in both singers' music that comes from the fact that they're still not famous. They're still the same trend-ignoring, working-class guys with high-class inspiration. To use an analogy to one of their influences, Rod Stewart, neither guy has left the mindset of the Faces, nor are they trying to record "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?"
Are they still punk? Westerberg's album, like his other CDs of the past three years, is raw, unpolished and, at times, visceral enough to be called punk. But it's largely a downbeat, melody-driven CD with nary a hint of angst.
If it's loud guitars and gritted teeth you're looking for, Stinson's disc has plenty. "Couldn't Wait" and "Motivation" are fiery, Johnny Thunders sound-alikes with a little "Exile on Main Street" hyper-blues. Even the poppy rockers, "Something's Wrong" and "Not a Moment Too Soon," have a great live energy.
Stinson recorded the album -- his first official solo disc, but really his third counting full-length releases with Perfect and Bash & Pop -- in Frank Black's home studio with drummer pals Gersh and Josh Freese, as well as GNR keyboardist Dizzy Reed. There's a real-band feel to it. At his gigs this weekend, he will be backed by a full-time unit, Seattle-based Alien Crime Syndicate, which will also play its own set.
But Stinson's album also offers plenty of acoustic-based, down-tempo songs that he can pull off on his own. And these are the songs that put it in a league of greatness. The fearful, post-Sept. 11 opener "Without a View" is his most sophisticated tune to date, while the closing "Someday" sounds like a more soulful, aged rewrite of the Replacements' "Unsatisfied."
While Tommy has affectionately covered Loudon Wainwright III's "One Man Guy" at recent shows, Paul's the guy who really fits the song well. Even more than his other albums going back to 2002's "Stereo/Mono,"Folker" sounds like a one-man show, not just in the loose recording technique but especially in the songwriting.
"It's sort of the final piece of the puzzle," Westerberg said after finishing the disc last year.
"Folker" does take the guy-in-a-basement thing about as far as it can go, for better and worse. It's an alluringly lonely record. Songs such as the perfectly frumpy "My Dad" and the soft lament "Looking Up in Heaven" deal in loss with unabashed honesty. On the other hand, the opening and closing tunes, "Jingle (Buy It)" and "Folk Star," are plain old silly, the kind of stuff you make up on a long, solo car trip just to amuse yourself.
The album's best songs sound like open-wound moans. In "How Can You Like Him?" he sings with the heartache of a dumped teenager, while in "New Life" he searches for the old spark (and finds it): "I want to breathe some new life/ Ain't happened yet/ Ain't holding my breath."
Of course, even with all its heart and with melodies that sound ripe for radio play, "Folker" probably won't see any above-normal commercial success, just as Stinson's record probably isn't flashy or niche-ready enough to get much mainstream attention.
But by now, who cares? At least Stinson and Westerberg achieved one thing with their albums: They finally can say that the breakup of the Replacements was a good thing and not sound full of it.
