Dear Friends,
Over the weekend, I played those shows with The Freeze, which is a band I played a half dozen shows with in 2018 and early 2019. It’s so much fun to play the music and the guys in the band are a lot of fun to be around and play music with, as well.
Playing shows with them is typically a real treat because to a lot of punk rock fans out there, The Freeze is something very special. A guy drove from Cincinnati to Colorado Springs to see us. That says it all right there.
Over the weekend, I had several people tell me that seeing us play was a bucket list item for them. They were so happy to tell that to me. It was super gratifying, super intimidating, and made me really want to be a part of cementing the legacy of this somewhat legendary band. I don’t think we will do a whole lot of shows but the ones we will do will be special and we will give it our all. This I know.
Years ago, it was brought up for me to join the band, but I stayed away from it for several reasons, but the timing is right to do this again. None of us are getting any younger, although Kaz is still a pretty young guy. It’s good, I suppose, to have a young drummer. The songs are nothing if not energetic.
I have no real idea where this ride will take me, but from the conversations we’ve had, it seems like there might be a little fun (albeit spread out) to be had. If I get a few more people to tell me that seeing the band play was a ‘bucket list’ thing for them or they drove 18 hours for a show, I will definitely not complain. Hopefully I will get to play on at least one future recording, too.
I did write the liner notes for the last record, Calling All Creatures. Slope put that out and I had a hand in making sure it got done. I wish I had been more involved, but at the time, I wasn’t sure if it was right for me to be on it or not. I was in a weird place being both a band member and a label liaison.
*****
I started parent/teacher conferences last night. I had a bunch of really easy students to talk about, so it went really well. I don’t have any that I will struggle to talk about in a kind way, so that’s a good thing.
Most of the time, I actually like getting to talk to the parents because it gives me a real insight into why the students are the way they are. It helps me frame how I interact with each student so much better when I can get a feel for what home is like for them.
What I learned yesterday was that all these good kids were who they were because their parents actually gave a shit. It sucks that this is something to celebrate, but it is. The world is a goddamned ignorant place a lot of time, but the parents spoke with yesterday were definitely not contributing to it.
We’ll see how today goes. I have a pretty full afternoon. Onward to the breach, I suppose.
*****
I really wanted to write about Hootenanny by The Replacements, but when I re-listened to it for the first time in a lot of years, I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. For years, I would tell people that I didn’t really like a lot of The Replacements stuff, but I liked Hootenanny. It was a thing I did.
The reality of the matter was that I didn’t really know or understand The Replacements. I liked several of their big songs and admired them, but so many people I knew just loved them and I didn’t get it. They were kind of revered by a lot of people, but again, I wasn’t quite sure why.
I did like Hootenanny, though. There was a raw edge to it and it had a lot of punk rock influence, I think. Either my friend, KJ, or my friend, Scott Klein, hipped me to it and loaned me a cassette with the album on it. I’m really not sure which one of them it was but played that cassette for a bit before I had to give it back.
Over the years, though, I never bought my own copy, and this is one of the reasons why I just didn’t feel right about writing about it. Another reason is that I do own a copy of the 2015 Record Store Day re-release of The Replacements E.P. that has “Alex Chilton” on it. I play that record a lot when I DJ.
So, I’m writing about it.
Well, not just that E.P., but also the other reason that I can say that I really love this record. Just before I bought the record, I saw the band play live at the Marquee here in town. I had to write about the show for the New Times. Seeing them live cemented my love for The Replacements. They were spectacular.
The last song they played in Phoenix was “Alex Chilton.” I’m a big Alex Chilton fan, so I loved the song for the title alone, but it’s also just a great song. It is just so hopeful and lovey-dovey in a way that only Paul Westerberg can write a song.
There is a beautiful chaos about The Replacements that I’ve learned to really appreciate. The chaos and the wonderful palette of color that Westerberg paints with when he strums his guitar. “I’m in love/what’s that song?”
I spin this one a lot, as mentioned, when I DJ. You can fit it in with a lot of different styles of music and it typically gets people to bop a little bit. I don’t play a lot of ‘dance’ music, but I do like seeing people catch a beat while they are conversating.
“Nightclub Jitters” is the other song on the A side. It has really grown on me over the years. Westerberg’s lyrics are really heartfelt (or at least he can sing them that way) and kind of touching, too. To be honest, I don’t think I really appreciated it at first. Then I learned more about the band, and I was way more open minded.
Any band that can party that hard and get work like these two songs out is okay by me. Was, too, as back in the day I had a different type of respect for partying hard. Now I just think that life is pretty dumb.
The B side is made up of the slide heavy “Election Day” and a cool cover of “Route 66.” Maybe these songs aren’t “Bastards of the Young” or “Can’t Hardly Wait,” but they are solid. They also show the diversity within the band, too.
Rumor has always had it that The Replacements liked to get a little drunk now and again. I can see why. The songs on side B are drunk as hell. Sometimes life is like that, I suppose.
The Replacements’ E.P. is just so damn good. All the songs are off Pleased To Meet Me, but they certainly sound like different versions in some cases. I bet The Replacements could probably think of a million reasons why I should just shut up and listen to more of their music.
I’ll get around to it.
*****
See you tomorrow.
Those boys are fuckered up AI-style.
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