It Ain't The Meat Nor The Motion

By Staff Writer [Columbus Alive]
(April, 1992)

April 6, 1992, Stache's, Columbus, Ohio

Rcok-and-roll is 80% attutude. Ex-Replacement Tommy Stinson must have been painfully aware of that fact during his new band's premiere at Stache's on April 6. In contrast to his usual drunken brashness, Stinson led Bash & Pop with more uncertainty, like a timid suitor. His measured delivery seemed to reflect the uncertainty of the crowd's approval.

Stinson's fear was justified. Nary a purely musical evaluation could be heard in tthe crowd, which had come to see a member of one of the standard-bearing punk-pop bands either fall flat on his face, or rise like the Pheonix from the ashes of The Replacements.

It was a reaction based more on punk politics than on musical reality. The Replacements' fuck-it-all attutude demanded a political separaton of passion from the desire for a musical career.

Some of the crowd seemed to wait hesitantly for confirmations of correctness before lending their support to Stinson's new venture; applause was tentative throughout the night. There were those who relied on the easy "sounds-too-much-like-the-Replacements" evaluation, and still others who showed mock support with comments such as, "It sound slike The Replacements weren't just Paul Westerberg," or similarly astute observations. Stil, others preferred to compare the band to the Baby's or the Bay City Rollers, two bands one could mentiona as an insult (they're declasse´) or a compliment (liking the exhibits divine slumming), depending on the company in which the remark was made. But rarely were Bash & Pop musical merits commented upon.

Bash & Pop played a brand of power--pop not unlike Matthew Sweet without the volume, or Johnny Thunders going romantic, when laying Stinson's own tunes and covering the sweet soul tune 'You Really Got A Hold On Me.' And, yes, the band sound just a little like a ripping version of the Bay City Rollers. Stinson popped with power.

The difference, I suppose, between Stinson now and during his Replacements days, is that he seems to be fighting for his career, whereas he used to sound like he was fighting for his life. I think we can allow him that.