UAWIL #199: The Replacements - Let It Be

The Ugly American Werewolf in London Rock Podcast

In 1984, The Replacements were gaining a reputation as fun live punk band, always delivering loud, raucous tunes with setlists full of covers and aggressive originals. They intentionally thwarted management's efforts to get them on bigger labels by sabotaging shows they knew record company reps would be attending. The Minneapolis quartet of Paul Westerberg on vocals, Bob Stinson on guitar, Tommy Stinson on bass and Chris Mars on drums carved out a loyal following and had begun to win over fans around the country thanks to opening for REM. But Westerberg's songwriting, especially his lyrics, were too strong to be for only those moshing around through a drunken haze.

With Let It Be, the band explores more personal themes (Unsatisfied, Answering Machine, Androgynous) and captured more melody than they had previously. They still had plenty of straight ahead punk songs (We're Comin' Out, Tommy Got His Tonsils Out, Gary's Got A Boner) but also tried to empathize with those who might not understand the world around them and how to relate (Sixteen Blue). Westerberg's lyrics are personal and poignant and still resonate to this day. Plus, there's a KISS cover song on the album so what's not to like? We didn't find this record until later in life but if you're unfamiliar, I think you'll like a lot of what you hear as we delve into deep topics we don't always weigh in on thanks to this punk classic.

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