We'll Inherit the Earth: A Tribute to the Replacements

Here we go, yet another tribute album. As per usual, the regular disclaimer about tribute records applies: the odds are, over the course of this disc, you will be filled with an uncontrollable urge to break out the original artist’s albums. In this case, you will most likely reach for your worn copy of Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash.

That’s not to say this is a bad effort, by any means. The album, like any good tribute album, emphasizes and throws into sharp focus the strength of the original material; despite being delivered in different (in some cases, radically so) styles, some with more success than others, the songs are still great.

The first thing a listener will notice is that the songs here are almost all contributed by punk bands. Pop-punk bands, more often than not, and that makes sense, since if you were to try to find a genre that was most influenced by the Replacements (in particular, their early material), it would be pop-punk. Or at least, those bands who don’t feel a need to be slavishly devoted to retreading the musical blueprint of Rocket to Russia.

Generally, the takes on the band’s material here is pretty reverent. There are a couple of contributions that venture more into the country territory (“If Only You Were Lonely” sticks out in my mind), and it all works fairly well. And it’s amazing how some of the songs fit the bands they’re being covered by, which I guess shows off how ‘Mats-influenced those bands are. For a specific example, check out Off With Their Heads’ take on “Goddamn Job.” It reminds the listener of the lead song on their Hospitals album, “Die Today.”

Depending on your tolerance for covers of a single artist, the 23 songs contained here may turn out to be a bit over long. But overall, the album is a great tribute to a seminal band, who deserve all the accolades they can get.

The Queers - Move Back Home

The Queers are a heroes of pop-punk. Since their landmark Love Songs for the Retarded in 1993, they’ve been champions of the ultra-Ramones-influenced, boneheaded pop-punk tradition. Fronted by Joe King, aka Joe Queer (and can I digress and mention that I really love the tradition of band members taking their band’s name as their surname- the Ramones, the Ergs!, Screeching Weasel, etc.), these New Hampshire punks have released many solid albums.

Move Back Home is yet another great album in a string of hits that started with Love Songs. A few years ago, the album, along with most of the band’s Lookout! Records releases, were re-released on Asian Man Records, and these reissues brought remastering and sometimes bonus tracks. In this album’s case, there’s entirely new artwork, plus 4 additional songs not found on the Lookout! original.

It kicks off with a lyrical nod to their heroes, the Ramones, on “She’s a Cretin,” before hurtling tunefully through “Next Stop Rehab” and the Screeching Weasel sequel “High School Psychopath part 2.” The Weasel references shouldn’t be too surprising; Joe Queer and Ben Weasel have been friends for years, and the Queers seem to take career advice from Ben & co.; when Ben Weasel rescinded the masters for his band’s output from Lookout! Records, and brought them to Asian Man Records, Joe followed suit soon after.

The songs here, while still being decidedly in the Ramones-core pop-punk camp, show off more of the band’s other influences, as their previous works were trending toward. “Hawaii” is a Beach Boys cover, and that sort of bouncy, ’60s pop/surf rock is what influences the pop side of the Queers equation the most. The left-behind-a-few-grades humor is toned down here- there’s nothing like “Can’t Stop Farting” on this album- and it’s balanced out by the love songs, in the vein of “Daydreaming” off of Love Songs. See, for example, the double whammy of “From Your Boy,” a midtempo song, and “Definitely,” which is perhaps the best song on the album.

This album is pretty essential for any fan of the Queers. And the remastered reissue sounds excellent; Mass Giorgini did a great job with the audio here. For someone just getting into this band, this is a great place to start.