Okay, so this week’s Tuesday Tuneage is actually something of a vast discovery for me.
Recently, I was enviously looking at some of the lineups from American festival lineups, with a huge grimace on my face. FYF, Coachella, This Is Hardcore…. then I came across a festival called Riot Fest.
Now on this lineup for Riot Fest, it was pretty solid. The Offspring, Fallout Boy, FLAG (the real and credible version of Black Flag), Rocket From the Crypt, Iggy and The Stooges, Pixies, Brand New, Suicidal Tendencies, X, Public Enemy, Glassjaw, Rancid… the list is endless. Basically, I got really, really annoyed just how great the lineup was. However, there was one main headliner that I have never heard of before and that really caught my eye… The Replacements.
Now according to the jolly confines of music history, they are often credited as the pioneers of alternative rock music. This surprised me, as usually I have an extensive knowledge for such things, so I was curious to find out more. Safe to say, you learn something new every day! The Replacements have only recently just reunited after a great amount of years away, and it turns out that they have a highly critically acclaimed string of studio albums under their belts.
Forming in 1979 in Minnesota, USA, they first started off in the midst of the American hardcore punk explosion, and the tail end of the British punk revolution. Their debut album ‘Sorry Ma, Forgot To Take Out The Trash‘, and their sophomore effort ‘Hootenanny‘ leans more towards the musical leanings of DOA, X, The Saints, Husker Du, and early Ramones. But for myself, it was their first universally acclaimed album (and third studio album) ‘Let It Be‘, that really truly caught my ear.
This was a turning point for the band, and one which they fully started to steer away from the punk leanings of their earlier material, and headed for more of a British post-punk sound, which kind of sounds like if Kurt Cobain, and the Pixies started a new wave / post-punk band with influences ranging from The Smiths and Joy Division, and a vehemently punk attitude along the lines of The Clash.
The album ‘Let It Be‘ was released in 1984, and as you can tell… pre-dates bands like Pixies, Nirvana, Fugazi, and other bands which I am sure you will be able to get some kind of influence from. But the song I have chosen in particular is the absolutely wonderful ‘Unsatisfied’. One of the first times they truly stepped outside of the hardcore punk origins, and ventured towards their unknowing creation of alternative rock.
To date, The Replacements have released seven albums to date (their last being 1990’s ‘All Shook Down‘), and every album has something truly wonderful to offer. I also bring this band to everyone’s attention, as I feel that not enough people know about them in the UK.
Enjoy!
