Hear Tommy Stinson’s Cathartic Bash & Pop Song ‘Never Wanted to Know’
Tommy Stinson pairs tragic headlines with anthemic riffs on the second sample from Anything Could Happen, his upcoming reunion LP with post-Replacements band Bash & Pop. On “Never Wanted to Know,” he snarls: “Shot down, bleeding from his back in the rain/ Some kid, they didn’t even know he was eight,” between paint-peeling guitar solos. “You’re wishing that it all would end/ They repeat it on CNN.”
Anything Could Happen, due out January 20th, is the first Bash & Pop album since the band’s 1993 debut, Friday Night Is Killing Me (which itself is getting a vinyl reissue). Stinson announced the LP in September, following two months later with brash lead single, “On the Rocks,” and its text message-styled music video.
The album is available to pre-order via the group’s Pledge Music campaign, which offers fans incentives like Stinson’s plaid suits, bass guitars, a basement Bash & Pop concert and the chance for the musician to officiate a wedding. A portion of proceeds will benefit Timkatec trade schools in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
Bash & Pop features Stinson on vocals and guitar, backed by lead guitarist Steve “The Sleeve” Selvidge (The Hold Steady), drummer Joe “The Kid” Sirois (Mighty Mighty BossTones) and bassist Justin “Carl” Perkins (Screeching Weasel). In a statement announcing the new LP, Stinson said he craved the band format after recording his last two solo albums in a “piecemeal way.”
“I found myself longing to make a record in the same way that we made the early Replacements records: live, in the studio, as a band,” he said. “Since early 2015 I’ve been recording new songs with new and old friends, cutting all of them as live as possible without losing too much fidelity nor over-thinking the songs.”
On Wednesday, the band expanded their upcoming tour to include a run of west coast dates in February and March. The full itinerary is available at Stinson’s website.