The liner notes to The I Don’t Cares debut album Wild Stab include the message, “Recommended: Play at a moderate sensible adult volume.” While this is a far cry from the “File Under: Power Trash” note placed on The Replacements’ Sorry Ma, Forgot To Take Out The Trash, the message is clear: Paul Westerberg is still the wisecracking smartass most songwriters wish they could be.
Westerberg, the singer, guitarist and songwriter for the legendary Minneapolis punk band The Replacements, has teamed up with Juliana Hatfield (Blake Babies, The Juliana Hatfield Three, Some Girls and Minor Alps) to form The I Don’t Cares. With 16 songs and a 52-minute run time, Wild Stab breezes by with few speed bumps and showcases the occasional diamond-in-the-rough to emerge from Westerberg’s basement.
In a recent interview with Peter Wolf for Vanyaland, Westerberg described the combination of his and Hatfield’s vocals as “sandpaper and daffodil.” He also explained how the collaboration centered on Hatfield picking her favorite tracks from Westerberg’s basement recording studio. Westerberg used to write a song a day, few of which left the basement and many were discarded or taped over, lost forever.
It’s difficult to critique an album by a band called The I Don’t Cares, especially one fronted by one of rock ‘n’ roll’s most notorious underachievers.
To best describe the mood of the album, look at “½ 2 P” (sound it out). It’s partially a love song, partially an indication of an overactive bladder issue. “When you call me baby, I need to find an alley / Your voice always makes me have to pee,” Westerberg and Hatfield sing in tight unison backed by a bright acoustic and prominent electric guitar.
As a duo, Hatfield and Westerberg mesh beautifully. Hatfield understands when to sing backup and when to insert herself into the forefront of the song, and as the album progresses, Hatfield’s role becomes more prominent. The album maintains its light feeling until the final track.
Most of the drums are balanced low in the sound mixing, but Wild Stab is all about the vocals, guitar and ensuring these tracks were recorded before they were destroyed. The only song that would be significantly improved by better drum mixing is “Love Out Loud,” which recalls the feel of the Replacements’ “IOU” and is fueled by a similar mannerism.
The only uninspired track is “Dance To The Fight.” It carries the heavy-handed rhythmic strumming common through much of Westerberg’s solo work, but the lyrics seem to have been left on a sheet of paper that was destined for destruction. Luckily, it falls to the wayside as it is placed between “Sorry For Tomorrow Night” and “Kissing Break,” the duo’s most tender ballad and best instance of harmonization.
While the opener, “Back,” features Westerberg’s most vulnerable sounding vocals, the finale “Hands Together” is a haunting analysis of his current life. It features the densest collection of brilliant Westerbergian one-liners, and is his best song since the release of Pleased To Meet Me (1987). Armed with a 12-string acoustic guitar, light drums and Hatfield’s beautiful backing vocals, Westerberg yet again confirms his reputation as a world-class songwriter.
After sharing breakfast with a cigarette that “insisted on rolling on the floor” and dinner with a cup of coffee that “likes to be called a mug,” he discovers he is “long, tall, dark and handsome, still lonely as shit” by observing his relationship with household items:
“The dreams I had before are now too bored to even show up / And the blankets are embarrassed / It’s only me that they cover up.”
For once in his career, Westerberg is fully admitting he feels trapped and alone, and it feels like a clear window into his soul. Usually, he disguises his feelings through the veiled perspective of a character, but this is Westerberg narrating from an unfiltered perspective, likely still reeling from his 2014 divorce. The song is an illustration of loneliness and despair, and the results are devastating.
Paul Westerberg, singer of the I Don’t Cares, performs from a tent with The Replacements at the Paramount Theater in Seattle on April 9, 2015. Photo courtesy of Craig Wright.
The possibility of a new Replacements album almost became a reality during the 2015 “Back By Unpopular Demand” tour, but after a dead-end recording attempt, the current rumor is that the Replacements are finished.
If Wild Stab is the type of material The Replacements would have recorded, it’s for the best that they did not record. Performed in a serious context, much of Wild Stab would be mercilessly trashed by critics. In this laid-back context, it’s impossible to deny that it is a fun album and a worthwhile collaboration. Tracks like “Need The Guys” and “Little People” portray the album’s intended unpolished feeling, while “Born For Me” (originally on Suicaine Gratifaction, 1999) and “King Of America” serve as the high production counterparts.
While Westerberg wrote the songs, Juliana Hatfield should receive as much credit for selecting the ones worthy of saving from destruction.
Listen to “1/2 2 P” from Wild Stab below.
