It was really good, one of the best rock books I’ve ever read and far better than typical shit (I read a Husker Du book around the same time, and it wasn’t that great.) Supremely detailed–the youths of all the band members, every single song covered in detail, every recording session, every stupid thing the band did to sabotage their own fame (which is a LOT, if you didn’t already know…hell, you DID know, but this book may still surprise you), and everything afterwards. Really researched like a pro, the centerpieces are Bob Stinson’s funeral (as the book opener) and the band’s infamous SNL appearance. It’s gotta be everything you’d want out of a book on the Replacements. Did you know he once stayed in the same hotel as Kurt Cobain when Nirvana were blowing up and didn’t say anything to him?

I thought it got good reviews…so there’s that. Paul Westerberg is a 65 year old punk with a college age son and a wife who died at age 62 not that long ago. I don’t know what we’re going to be hearing from him in terms of new music (Bob Mould seems to still be pretty active by comparison.)

Maybe they should get a biopic to rekindle interest in the band? I mean, Trouble Boys proves that their story is a fuck of a lot more interesting than Queen’s, and they wouldn’t even have to lie about shit like Queen’s movie did! Or maybe not…biopics mostly suck, and that new meta-movie about Pavement got glowing reviews, but God knows who all has bothered to see it (I really thought that the critical flame keeping Pavement alive was finally starting to die off.)

They don’t have a song that the public knows, though periodically I have heard “Bastards Of Young” and “I Will Dare” in public. They appeared on Jimmy Fallon as a trio to perform “Alex Chilton,” though it wasn’t a great performance.

Best of luck, the Replacements. If the world ever really knew you in the first place.