The Replacements tell Rolling Stone a new album is likely
by Jay Gabler
September 22, 2014
It's not much, but for fans who have been waiting with bated breath for the reunited Replacements to release a new album, it's more than enough to make Monday exciting: "the Replacements say they'll likely make an album at some point in the future," writes Rolling Stone's Jon Dolan in a profile of the band that features the first proper interview Paul Westerberg and Tommy Stinson have given since getting back together last year.
The profile, based on a visit to the band's Minneapolis rehearsal space last month, is titled "The Replacements: The Greatest Band That Never Was" and appears in the magazine's Sept. 25 issue. It's a generous portrait that showcases the band's devil-may-care wit. The conversation veered widely enough that even the Bible comes up—it seems Stinson's recently been reading what he calls "the Dr. Seuss version" of the Good Book.
"Many is the time I've been like, 'I'm going to open the Bible, and this pertains to me!'" Westerberg is quoted as saying. "Instead, it's 'Aesop's sandal was pointing to the seventh donkey.' It's like, 'F--k!' You know? You want it to say, 'Turn down thine amp!'"
Elsewhere, it's revealed that in the post-'Mats years Westerberg considered trying his hand as a writer or producer (a la Dan Wilson), but he learned that he doesn't "play well with others." There's discussion of the day Tommy's late brother Bob was fired from the band ("the hardest f--king day of our lives"), and it's revealed that past financial obligations have cut into the income the Replacements have realized from their recent shows.
At the end of the profile—just as at the end of the Replacements' Midway Stadium show—Westerberg and Stinson hug it out. "We got to realize we might need each other a little bit," says Stinson.