Categories : Music Reviews, Rock + Pop.
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Usually, trying to sum up a band’s prolific history in large, singular chunks doesn’t work. For The Replacements, however, the recent re-issuing of the four Twin/Tone releases is a perfect sampling of the Minneapolis band’s humble beginnings. For the first few years after Paul Westerberg joined Chris Mars and Tommy and Bob Stinson, The Replacements existed on pure energy and raw – very raw – talent.
Their first two releases, Sorry Ma, Forgot To Take Out The Trash and the Stink EP, were shots of pure punk-rock energy, but with a misdirected and often disaffected sense of anger. They spent most of the time on these albums huffing and puffing, but were too lazy or too busy getting drunk to blow anyone’s house down.
It wasn’t until 1983’s Hootenanny when the band showed a little bit of restraint in their songwriting, realizing that not every song had to travel 100 miles an hour to make its point. Songs like ‘Color Me Impressed’ and the unforgettable ‘Lovelines’ hinted at a depth and a maturity that the band seemed to be discovering while the tape was rolling. And if Hootenanny was a warning, Let It Be was a revelation.
Released in 1984, Let It Be was the album that propelled the band to stardom and to a deal with Sire Records. Venturing even further from their early punk-rock aesthetic, The Replacements were suddenly toying with traditional rock ‘n’ roll (‘I Will Dare’), country (‘Unsatisfied’), and the kind of deep introspection that just wasn’t welcome in punk circles (‘Answering Machine’).
These four albums, released in the span of just three years, were the early stages of what would eventually be called slacker-rock, and the beginning of what would eventually turn into a legendary career that everyone from Pavement to The Hold Steady owes a debt of gratitude.
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