It is with great sadness that I am informing you, fans of this tumblr site, that breanswedzone died of natural causes this weekend. These are the words of breans jr, his son, who despite being discussed from time to time on here in a somewhat vulgar fashion, has decided to honor and continue breans legacy on this platform.
This was breans senior’s favourite song of all time, and to start off my writings on this site, I have decided to post in full a review of this record that breans wrote, back when he was writing music reviews on a regular basis (what a loser). hahah, just kidding, I love my dad. Anyway, here’s the review..
The Replacements huh, geez, what a bunch of drunks! Whether it be their awesome appearance on SNL wherein Paul Westerberg audibly commanded Bob Stinson to 'come on, fucker!' (you know what I say about vulgarity, but I’m willing to let the boys off the hook, ehhhh it’s ROCK AND ROLL MUSIC after all) or their reputation as a hard drinking, 'let it all hang out' kinda live act, The Replacements sure seem an unlikely bunch to have crafted not one but two proto indie masterpieces.
To the initiated this is not so surprising, because when it comes to the accuracy of their playing, they're more than capable of putting the oversimplification of their sound (see above), written about all too often, to bed. Even in their early stages as a hardcore group (when Tommy Stinson was just 14) they really had their act together when they wanted to. Check out this fantastic live performance from 1982 and listen out for Something to Du - they're not the tightest band on the planet but boy do they tear it up there.
Tim arrived one year after their canonised Let it Be, and to my taste happens to be the stronger record - not that it actually matters a rats ass which of whose record I like more than whatever - only to say that I'm listening to it today because it's actually one of my very, very favourite albums, and to be honest I probably haven't gone a week in a year or so where I haven't played a song on this thing.
Lets deal with that one big black sheep straight away, you know the one... that big, stupid mess; Dose of Thunder does indeed kind of suck even though about 40% of the time I play it I find myself really enjoying it. The other 60% though... not even Bob's admittedly cool solo can save it. A lot of people seem to disregard Lay it Down Clown in the same way, and although I agree it doesn't match the peaks here (very few things do), it's so much more fun and energetic. If you play it really loud the Replacements turn into this supercharged rock and roll band for two and a half dumb minutes and it's kind of awesome.
In terms of guitarist/singer combos that just really seem to get each other, it doesn't come much more profound than Stinson/Westerberg. There's a desperation in Paul's voice when he sings something like 'if being afraid is a crime we hang side by side' in Swingin Party that really makes you believe him where you perhaps wouldn't someone else. Bob's little solo moment in the middle of the track takes the lyric right where it left off and turns it into a few relaxed phrases that couldn't do a better job of echoing his counterpart sonically. You can't fake that stuff, these guys meant every word they said on here - in other words, powerful songwriting.
Similarly, check out the guitar work on one of the other soaring peaks of this record; Left of the Dial, in which the jangle of R.E.M. meets the power pop of Big Star in a comparison so overused that it's almost redundant. Just those opening seconds alone tell you a lot about what's going on here; the longing, a sense of retrospect, love, and most importantly of all, a sense of hope that the singer knows is in fact hopeless; everything is temporary. And then Paul just belts out the tune and it culminates in that little run down that the bass does and that kind of goofy snare finisher to wrap everything up. A perfect song. I just love it so much.
There's a lot of fun to be had on the rest of the album here, and certainly plenty more curiously profound moments. The last 20 seconds of Kiss Me on the Bus makes an already great track, I'll buy features Stinson letting rip some really sharp fills, Waitress in the Sky adds a lot of charm to an already deeply personal and character filled first side, while Here Comes a Regular wraps it all up in a truly surprising ode to wasted days and a sense of drunken depression that really sticks with you long after the album has finished. The Replacements weren't just alcoholics, they were the epitome of what makes rock and roll music resonate with so many people - you can hear it in the shout at the beginning of Bastards of Young, the final chorus of Little Mascara.
Hold my life because I just might lose it.
RIP Bob Stinson.
Here’s to more breanswebzone content, minus the stupid word plays, and plus a whole lot of extreme shit, curated by yours truly, breans jr.