In 1981, punk rock had come to mean hardcore, and in Minneapolis, bands like
Huesker Due
and
Loud Fast Rules
(soon to become
Soul Asylum
) were flying the flag for the faster, louder, and shorter aesthetic. When
the Replacements
made their way into the Twin City's underground rock scene, they were initially lumped in with the local hardcore crowd, but their debut album, 1981's
Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash
, was obviously made of different things.
The Replacements
were punk in the tradition of earlier bands like
Eddie and the Hot Rods
,
the Damned
, and Minneapolis' own
Suicide Commandos
-- they played fast and loud with plenty of attitude, but their melodic style was clearly beholden to stripped-down rock & roll traditionalism (as were
Bob Stinson
's guitar leads), and while they liked to play dumb, they were clearly too smart to be boxed in by hardcore's narrow stylistic boundaries.
Sorry Ma
is the work of a band that's rough yet inspired --
Paul Westerberg
's sloppy, full-bodied rhythm guitar gave
plenty of room for his repurposed
Steve Howe
licks,
Tommy Stinson
's basslines were lively and carried their share of the melody, and drummer
Chris Mars
had the stamina and the muscle to keep up with it all. Though
sounded scrappy and exciting here, what truly set them apart was
Westerberg
's songs -- they were clever, funny, and self-depreciating, the work of a young man with a fully functioning bullshit detector whose arrogance about his talent was balanced by his obvious insecurities about life, work, women, and himself.
was more than willing to rage ("Careless," "Takin' a Ride," "Don't Ask Why") and occasionally wear his heart on his sleeve ("Customer," "Johnny's Gonna Die"), though he knew folks would only stick around if he was funny, and
is very funny indeed, and genuinely inspiring in its sloppy but heartfelt wallop. Though
would get a lot better very quickly,
drew the roadmap to everything that was best about them right out of the box, and it remains a dirty, roaring rock & roll delight. ~ Mark Deming