THE REPLACEMENTS - I WILL DARE - LIVE

"FROM THE YEAR... 1991?"

1991 NY (from comp. DVD "We don't wanna be on TV".

The video may have come out in 1991 but the band broke up before that. I know because in the early 90's I was seriously bummed out with all the moronic tuneless bullshit on the radio. There was an endless stream of tone deaf mutants mumbling lyrics on the airwaves. These guys all sounded like a cross between Abraham Lincoln and Leon Redbone.

ANYWAYS... This is REAL MUSIC. Paul Westerberg hit the nail on the head in this IRS Cutting Edge video when he boldly proclaims himself as a punk band. Even The Clash's more eclectic but offbeat sounds come off as hokey but definately punk. The punk sound doesn't have to have pounding, throbbing and boring beats to keep it afloat. The punk ethic demands that that first and foremost that its sound be heard. It doesn't matter so much if the meaning is necessarily understood.

Most times these bands are NOT understood. Westerberg himself claimed that his songs barely made any sense. This is what made listening to this band so interesting. There were times when these songs sort of defied logical explanation. But they sounded great.

In time, fans drifted off to create hordes of children, get burried in SUV payments and the lyrics of these brilliant minds faded in the dust. A lot of new fans came of course. But even though this band left an impression many bands didn't follow their lead. As a result we got a lot of predictable sounding drivel.

So these guys were encased in ice literally.

In a lot of ways these guys were very misunderstood. Under all that thrashy noise beat a real heart of powerful intention. They exited with a very quiet sound.

Ted Cantu posted this on July 16, 2007