“I wanted to make more of a band record, the exact thing I was going for when the Replacements fell apart the first time.”

“The only reason I called this Bash & Pop was because this new album was more of a band album,” remarks veteran rock & roll warrior Tommy Stinson, 50, who claims consecutive membership in the Replacements, Guns N’ Roses, and the Replacements again. “My last two solo albums [2004’s Village Gorilla Head; 2011’s One Man Mutiny], I piecemealed together. I played way too many instruments, wore way too many hats, and over-thought quite a bit of it, honestly. I wanted to make more of a band record, the exact thing I was going for when the Replacements fell apart the first time.

“This record became more of a band record than the first Bash & Pop album, because I now have a band that can actually play, that can add something, that looks good – that sorta thing. It just made sense, and the people I played it for said it sounded like a Bash & Pop record.”

This is vintage Tommy Stinson, all right. Like 1993’s Friday Night Is Killing Me, its follow-up, January’s Anything Could Happen on Fat Possum, rolls the same ramshackle rock of literate, earnest songwriting the ’Mats specialized in. Essentially a continuation of that spirit, Bash & Pop now bears that standard.

“I went for it,” cackles Stinson.


Bash & Pop

Wed., March 15 @ Hotel Vegas Patio, 8pm

A note to readers: Bold and uncensored, The Austin Chronicle has been Austin’s independent news source for over 40 years, expressing the community’s political and environmental concerns and supporting its active cultural scene. Now more than ever, we need your support to continue supplying Austin with independent, free press. If real news is important to you, please consider making a donation of $5, $10 or whatever you can afford, to help keep our journalism on stands.

Tim Stegall contributed to The Austin Chronicle 1991-1995, and was a staff writer 1995-1997. He returned as a contributor in 2013. He has also freelanced for publications ranging from Flipside to Alternative Press to Guitar World. He plays punk rock guitar and sings in the Hormones.