Rating: NNN
This top-12 selection from the rough recordings Paul Westerberg made of the songs he came up with behind drawn blinds in his Minneapolis hideout over the past two years doesn’t really stack up against his worst Replacement toss-offs. Yet unlike his over-egged recent solo work, at least there’s a bit of tunefulness and passion in play even if he hasn’t got a lot to say. An extra disc of his just as poorly recorded Grandpaboy combo songs, Mono, is presumably intended to be a bonus. There’s a bit more rocking involved, but it’s still not really a return to fighting form. You’ve got to wonder — after two years, how bad was the stuff that didn’t make the cut?
