"All those stories and there's no one tell" but boy, i could write about this band all fucking night. like how i saw that billboard of them playing at the KCMO airport the wknd of Curry's 2nd wedding. LOL. SAD. but hey, he did do winona right? or rather, she done he? still, he played a presidential inauguration! shut up dumb fuck, get to the music.
"what are you doing here, in my nightmare?" just the facts, spazz. produced by bob mould. their 2nd album. and along with the one directly following this (While You Were Out), by light-years far and away the best work in their canon, ever, and premier among the best eighties-midwest-indie had to offer. better than that, it still stands the fucking test-of-time, imo. this album can be ballsout metal with the best of them, and heartfelt fungerpicking, too. hooky-pop-purity in the midriff.
"look at you now, you look like an angel" the lyrics are impeccable, pirner at his most beauteous poetic untouchable observant brilliant, rhymes and observations to leave you chuckling in wonder. i would kiss the man's hand today. he is a fucking god among mortals. and I would blow his crew without 2nd thought, except that godblesshisheart Karl Mueller is no longer with us, so the deal's off, boys. i bought this album junior year of HS, one of my first CDs, and it's so old now it doesn't even play on most computers. hah. cept for this one.
"stepping back into the stupid years, gets me nowhere" when scarcity is great, the great are scarce. i only had about 7 or 8 new albums that year, and like a good old boy, i kin name em all. b/c I bought wisely, with my well-earned pennies. and REsearched. the reason i bought this one was b/c we'd seen 'em open up for something like 4 or 5 bands at the metro, and became righteous converts. for a while there there wasn't another band we saw more. their live shows were transcendental gut-shaking events that i will take to my grave, and put a smile on my face to recall even as i type, twenty years on.
"everything's so true-to-life, when you're not living" internet-bereft, i pored heartily over the lyrics w/ radio shack headphones. they were all but incomprehensible, until one day, they broke through, like the cold but bright midwestern sun on a cloudy winter's day.
"i can't change the world by complaining,
and you can't change it with a kiss"
"i would tear out my insides,
just to find a place to hide"
and the one that popped into mind last night, as I lay in bed unable to sleep, thus prompting this post:
"I'm just sitting on the roadside
Watching all the crowds and the clouds roll byThey may pass me by
But i need a better reason to cry
Growing pain it leaves a stain
That's similar but not the same
It's down the drain and what remains
Maybe you're the one who's a little insane"
but of course, the real sleeper on this album is "Ain't That Tough...":
"like a plug without a socket
your finger trigger's itching
but you forgot to cock it."
"it's like a dream machine that never leaves the garage"
what are you waiting for?
12 songs, 30 minutes
(the way it's supposed to be)
9 comments:
Great album. Hang Time and While You Were Out are even better. And just flat out incredible live.
Listen to this one ungodly loud and drunk on something aggressive like tequila, rum or just some suds. You will be singing at the top of your lungs. You may air drum/guitar. You may even raise your arms in the air for no apparent reason at all. It will tap into your inner Irish drunk.
What happened to all the Minneapolis bands, tho? Soul Asylum's downfall was well publicized, but the Hüskers weren't sounding so good on the way out, neither the Placemats and don't get me started on Run Westy Run (ha).
I can't think of any Minneapolis music that delivered throughout their entire career. Maybe Cows...
Anyone?
What about his petite purpleness?
Anon, i never could hang w/ HT, but I'll post WYWO toot sweet.
Strade, i'll take unsustainable moments of transcendental brilliance over multi-decade spanning careerists anyday, but that's just me.
I thought about Prince, and I genuinely like some of his latest material, but I was thinking more eighties/early nineties Twin/Tone era.
Baywatch, I'm not talking about multi-decade careerists, I'm just talking about going out with a little dignity intact.
The Hüskers put out 6 studio releases between 82 and 87. After Flip Your Wig, it sorta falls off-Candy Apple Grey and Warehouse Songs and Stories wear a little thin. Not oddly enough, both are their only releases for Warner.
You could change the album names and labels involved and say the same for most of the other Miniapple alternaunderindie bands from the same period.
I guess you could say that for most bands that are stretching beyond their prime, but it just seemed like what started as Loud Hard Fast Rules just ended up in so much schmaltz. Listen to Bob Mould's latest work....yi.
Contrast with someone like Neil Michael Hagerty, a man who is always stretching his vision and isn't playing any inaugurals anytime soon...
He will play my inaugural
NMH plays my dreams every night. Strade, we're gonna armwrestle over this one in the great pacific norwest next spring, as we're carting ethel merman's ass thru the forest in a giant balloon.
Hagerty has been quiet for a while, I was wondering what he was up to. You should post an OST of your dreams.
I hear there's a balloon in Colorado up for grabs.
Didn't Cozy stumble into Greg Norton's restaurant a while back? Now THAT is cool.
the menu looks quite tasty
band sounds pretty good as well
I like The Litigious Mike Love.
Very good post. I have been searching for this post since many days. Now I have implemented the same for my site.
Post a Comment