Track This: The Replacement's "Unsatisfied"

The Replacements have been one of my favorite bands for a very long time, and they have been getting me through some tough times lately. My dissertation is nearing the halfway point, and I have not had a moment to blog lately. I can't believe it's been two months. Today the playlist contained some Sonic Youth followed by the Replacement's amazing Let It Be, an album that changes those who listen intently.

Picking a track to review from such a monumental album is extremely difficult. Where does one start? The album begins with the classic, propulsive rocker, "I Will Dare," and does not let up. "My Favorite Thing" is a pure pop wonder. "We're Comin' Out" has one of the coolest punky riffs of the band's early period before they signed to Sire. It recalls Husker Du more than most of their other songs. "Tommy Gets His Tonsils Out" is another punky piss-take, showcasing Paul Westerberg's sense of humor. "Androgynous" is a nice template for the slow numbers the band will perfect on Pleased To Meet Me. "Black Diamond" takes Kiss to a different place and seems like an odd choice, but it works.

Side Two opens with "Unsatisfied," which is perhaps their greatest pop achievement. Westerberg mournfully sings "Look me in the eye, then tell me I'm satisfied. Are you satisfied?" His every man, throaty vocals capture the pain of Midwestern relationships that the band will only expand on in their later albums. Westerberg opens up to his listeners, and it is hard to tell what he is unsatisfied about, but the lyrics and the restrained music make his moment of doubt all the more compelling. A mixtape of this track with later numbers like "Anywhere's Better Than Here" is a perfect picture of Midwestern ennui. Westerberg captures doubt and dissatisfaction perfectly with well-chosen, yet simple lyrics. The band shows they can rock, while painting a portrait of emotional discontent.

The rest of the album remains a classic, but the feeling of "Unsatisfied" lingers. "Seen Your Video" is  a  lighthearted instrumental romp and "Gary's Got A Boner" epitomizes the jokey songs of their earlier records. "Sixteen Blue," a country-tinged number, and the masterful "Answering Machine" end the album. Both contain the lingering effects of "Unsatisfied." When Westerberg sings, "How do you say you're okay to an answering machine?," the band has transcended their humble Minnesota beginnings. They belong to the larger world. Their songs are catchy and full of pathos; Let It Be begins a run of classic albums, and the melodies and catchiness will stick around until Westerberg goes solo.

Listen here.  

Track This is a recurring feature of Snobbin' that turns the music appreciation dial up and rips it off of your stereo. It attempts to introduce a new track, allow readers to rediscover an underappreciated track, or just serve as a forum to flat out discuss a track that falls into the ear candy category and should be listened to unabashedly and without reservation for years to come.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Contractions: Henry Standing Bear's Ethical Code

Image
I recently finished watching the last season of Longmire , a show that I believe only got better when it moved to Netflix. A & E cancelled it, despite good ratings, because it did not directly appeal to the 18-35 age demographic. The writing and plot development improved as the show started focusing more on major themes and story lines and not story-of-the-week subplots. While the show's general premise is typical cop show fare, the strong characterization and settings give the show a primacy over similar procedurals. While I enjoyed the show, I never got around to reading the books even though I watched dutifully for six seasons. Once I started reading The Cold Dish , I realized how hard it will be not to binge the book series. The books are a treat. Craig Johnson's prose is punchy, and the characters are even better realized. Walt Longmire's love for Rainier beer and obscure literary metaphors, as well as other character's predilections and habits, become crys...
Read more

Do you remember huH Magazine?

Image
The other day when I was writing the "Track This" for Jawbox's "Cooling Card," something jogged my memory about music magazines I had read in my formative years, particularly those published while I was still in High School. Many, if not most, of them are gone now. They gave way to blogs and online publications. These include zines like Flipside , which covered mainstream and underground bands -- they also had some of my favorite columnists of all time, Punk Planet , which ventured further into Indie rock as it progressed, and MRR , which is still going strong. The magazines that I read often included Alternative Press and Magnet , as well as Ray Gun Publishing's huH which turned me on to a ton of great music because it included a cd with each issue that served as a sampler for what had been released that month, divided by genre. While other magazines did this, huH undoubtedly was more inclusive in the types of bands these cds covered. In fact, these col...
Read more

Cal Smith: "So Long, Country Bumpkin"

Image
Cal Smith, born Calvin Grant Shofner on April 7, 1932, died on October 10. He was best known for the 1974 hit, "Country Bumpkin." A tangible part of my childhood, the song still echoes in my head whenever pumpkins are displayed or the newest batch of Pumpkin ales hits the store shelves.  Where I grew up in Northern Wisconsin, the old  Blues Brothers  adage rang true that there were two kinds of music, "country and western." My parents always listened to country music in our house (My mom preferred '90s country radio) and there was always a bunch of western in there as well.(Mostly from my dad). I remember hearing "Streets of Bakersfield" often drifting from car radios and home stereos. I developed an early attraction to some of these songs, even though years later I would hide it behind a sheen of four chords and punk rock. A secret shadow self of country knowledge and Western Swing bravado remained, only unsheathed for music trivia and in the dar...
Read more