When In Need, Accept No Replacement

I'm having an ugly day today. Yes, guys have them too. Some days you just feel like hell and look like hell and you can't understand why anyone would ever talk to you. As a result, I find myself listening to the Replacements and drinking coffee, and the Replacements turn into Paul Westerberg's solo albums, and I can't believe he isn't the most critically lauded singer of all time.

The Replacements were a mess. I mean, I don't know firsthand; I wasn't there. This was during the 80's, when you went to a show to go to a show and see a band, not to text your friends and video record songs for YouTube and put up a Facebook status saying "At the show with my gurrrllllz lol" or something ridiculous like that. In those days, you had to go to the merch table and PHYSICALLY PAY VALID AMERICAN CURRENCY FOR MUSIC, but that's another argument for another day. I remember reading an essay by Fat Mike from NOFX about going to see the Replacements and how terrible they were live. They were just drunk and sloppy and screwed up their own songs and forgot the words. That sounds awesome to me. I also remember reading about Chuck Klosterman going to the apartment where Tommy Stinson died and feeling nothing. He said it was just an apartment.

At any rate, there's no doubt the Replacements were a special band, and that's why they're still talked about today. The Hold Steady have spent the better part of the last decade basically reinterpreting Replacements songs, and they get 4 out of 5 reviews in every magazine, and everyone loves them. I love the Hold Steady; I'm just saying, if you're going to love Minneapolis alt rock, turn the dial back and do your research. 

There's a sloppy quality to Westerberg's solo work as well, specifically Stereo. Songs like "High Time" and "Silent Film Star" should be put on flash drives and given to incoming freshman as a coping tool. "Here, take these songs. Some days it'll be all you need. It's going to get a lot worse before it gets better, but I promise this will help."

There's a desperation in every song Westerberg ever wrote that just isn't around anymore. Those songs could have only been written in that exact moment in time by that exact man, and we're lucky that some days he was sober enough to pick up a guitar. I feel sorry for anyone who doesn't have Paul Westerberg's voice in their life because on an ugly day like today or when you're all alone in your room and you just don't know what to do, there really isn't anyone better to put on.

If you can spare the time, you should really go out and get the Replacements' Tim and Paul Westerberg's Stereo albums. I don't know what else to tell you other than "Here, this will help."