The Suburbs “In Combo”

sfilzen — Fri, 04 Mar 2022 19:38:03 +0000

The Suburbs “In Combo” 1980. Twin/Tone Records. New wave/post punk from Minneapolis. In Combo is The Suburbs debut release (they put out a s/t EP in 1978) and it’s new wave/punk in the way that Devo was categorized as such: it’s quirky and weird, disjointed and experimental. Though they never had broad commercial success – their sound was just a bit too far to the left of pop for regular radio – The Suburbs were Midwest-big in the 80’s and performed with bands like the B-52’s and Iggy Pop; I guess even Bruce Springsteen was a fan. It’s totally possible I saw The Suburbs in concert at some point in the 80’s but I honestly have no idea. In Combo has some great tracks and some hilarious, batshit lyrics. Some of my top picks are “Tiny People” (“Tiny people/Tall buildings/Tiny people/Manhattan…The sun doesn’t come in from the sides, you know/There’s too many fucking buildings), “Goggles On” (especially the shriek “so bright!”), the excellent funky groove of “Drinking” (in the live video linked here they call this track their theme song) and as a good Midwestern girl who grew up on a small sheep farm in dairy country I also like “Cows” (I like cows/They’ve got skinny feet/Unlike their friends, the shaved sheep/They’ve got skinny feet”) – the moo sound of the guitar is quite a nice touch.

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The Replacements “Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash”

sfilzen — Wed, 25 Aug 2021 17:11:11 +0000

The Replacements “Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash” released 40 years ago today, August 25th, 1981. Twin/Tone Records.* Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash was the band’s first studio LP and is considered to be one of the vanguards of the Midwest 80′s punk sound, though for the most part I’d call it power pop with a messy punk mentality and some Sex Pistol-ish riffs (the LP’s cover states it should be “filed under power trash” – also accurate). I’ll admit to never having been a big Replacements fan (partly because I’m not crazy about Paul Westerberg’s voice) but I do have a fondness for most things coming out of Minneapolis, a city I visited frequently as a teenager in the 80′s and we continue to go to every year or so for shows and friends (and a few good record stores). Of the handful of Replacements albums we have, this is probably my favorite, with songs that reference fellow-MN’ers Hüsker Dü (“Somethin to Dü”), New York Dolls’ and Heartbreakers’ Johnny Thunders (“Johnny’s Gonna Die”) and a totally 80′s Midwest punk pastime “Hangin Downtown.”

*edited reblog of my post from 2018

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The Suburbs “In Combo”

The Replacements “Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash”