The Rhino Replacements Reissues - Installment #3: Don't Tell A Soul

So, when we last left off in the world of the JS-NYC/Mats axis, we had just had our asses rocked by the release of Pleased To Meet Me and the loss of Bob Stinson. With all due respect to Slim, a lotta bit of The Replacements died right then and there.

The first sign of a new Mats record was the video for I'll Be You. It seemed to feature the same drunken self-sabotage that you would expect from the gents, with way too much eye makeup and some random instrument swapping. The record was started in Woodstock and pretty much scrapped for being too loud and/or rocking. Not a good sign for America's Finest Rock Band. Sessions resumed soon after in L.A. with Matt Wallace.

That may mark the second bad choice the gents made during the recording. Don't Tell A Soul was a little bright and sparkly for my tastes and inexplicably left off recordings with Tom Waits that were highlights of the posthumous Nothing For All comp. I remember getting a copy at the mall and being pretty bummed, but not so much that I didn't sign on for two exceedingly lackluster shows in Albany (with Dirty Face) and Kingston (with Joe and the Hot Dogs and, I believe, Fire Drill). The Kingston show was notable for the band both taking ten to fifteen minutes between songs and spending that time drunkenly howling the name of the bar across the street. Not good times, although it did/does prove good fodder for the games of "I saw the Mats and they were so fucked up" that were to pop up in vans and backstages after their demise.

Little did I know that I would be begging for a Don't Tell A Soul b-side after the next record came out. Another Agatha Christie moment was looming ominously in our future, as was another step towards the band's demise.