Replacements Reunion Rumors True

The Replacements — a seminal, influential band that broke up in 1991 — has announced it is going to reunite, at least temporarily.

The two new songs are “Message to the Boys” and “Pool & Dive.” Both were written by singer-guitarist Paul Westerberg.

The songs are for a compilation album: Don’t You Know Who I Think I Was?: The Best of the Replacements. The album will be on the Rhino Records label. The 20-track album is scheduled to be released on June 13.

Bassist Tommy Stinson and drummer Chris Mars joined Westerberg on the two songs. A complete reunion is impossible since the fourth founding member of the band, guitarist Bob Stinson, died of a drug overdose in 1995. Tommy is Bob’s brother.

Bob Stinson’s replacement, Slip Dunlap, was not involved with the new songs.

There have been rumors about the band reuniting for years. There are now also rumors circulating about a possible tour and a boxed set.

The band was formed in Minneapolis in 1979 with the original name The Impediments. The band took the new name after they got banned from some establishments because of their reputation for partying and getting wild.

The band received critical acclaim for its albums, especially for Let It Be and Tim.

The band had infighting leading up to Mars’ departure in 1990. Reportedly one of the issues of dispute was whether the band should make music videos.

The band made one of the most memorable music videos, for the song “Bastards of Young.” The video was a close-up of a speaker for almost the entire song.

Westerberg has released several solo albums which have had critical acclaim but not sold as many copies as those by the band.

The album’s planned track listing is as follows:

“Takin a Ride”
“Shiftless When Idle”
“Kids Don’t Follow”
“Color Me Impressed”
“Within Your Reach”
“I Will Dare”
“Answering Machine”
“Unsatisfied”
“Here Comes a Regular”
“Kiss Me on the Bus”
“Bastards of Young”
“Left of the Dial”
“Alex Chilton”
“Skyway”
“Can’t Hardly Wait”
“Achin’ To Be”
“I’ll Be You”
“Merry Go Round”
“Message to the Boys”
“Pool & Dive”

Note:
If you are unfamiliar with the Replacements this fan site has some good downloads and a decent commentary on their works.