Age of Reason (Paul Westerberg review)

[The following is a review I wrote for the Music page of the Long Beach Union, the student paper at Long Beach State.]

Age of Reason

Paul Westerberg is getting older. But then, aren’t we all?

In his younger days, he fronted the seminal Minneapolis post-punk band the Replacements. The debauchery of their live shows often outshined Westerberg’s brilliant songwriting.

After the group broke up, many expected Westerberg’s first solo album (14 Songs) to be a reserved work focused on the songwriting. Instead, it proved a diverse collection, with lush ballads, unabashed rockers, and ever a song recorded in one take in his kitchen.

Three years later, Westerberg’s sophomore effort, Eventually, finds the 36 year-old contemplating life differently than he did in the wild days of youth.

Eventually flows more like a proper album than did 14 Songs. I’m not sure if that’s good or not.

The album opens with the contemplative “These Are The Days,” then segues into the semi-political “Century.” Of course, politics Westerberg style is not scathing, rather merely commenting: “The only ones standing after your speech/Are the ones with mops and the brooms and the keys.”

The standout track is the pensive “Hide n Seekin’,” which picks up on the threads of the Replacements’ “Here Comes a Regular.” A lone guitar, accompanied by brushes on a snare and a lilty flute, provides the backdrop for the song’s bar scene, where the narrator dismisses with the game-playing of youth: “Hide ‘n seekin’s for children, baby/Now it’s hid and saw.”

In the country song “Once Around the Weekend,” he accepts the slower pace of life, noting “I stay in every night of the week.” He can appreciate the quieter moments in life (or at least can remember them).

Even the angst (inasmuch as there is any) comes across in a somewhat detached way. In “MamaDaddyDid,” Westerberg sings, “Decided not to raise any children/Just like my Ma-ma-mama Daddy did.” Rather than seeming a bitter criticism, however, it comes across as accepting of the parents’ inadequacies. Westerberg’s gotten over it.

There’s also a certain optimism permeating the songs, most obvious in the piano ballad “Good Day.” Perhaps the death of former Replacements’ guitarist Bob Stinson last year made Westerberg appreciate things, as evidenced by the lines: “Sing along/Hold my life/A good day/Is any day that you’re alive.”

The rockers, like “You’ve Had It With You,” don’t succeed as well as some cuts. Westerberg can still turn out power pop tunes with the best of them, but they aren’t his best material.
I guess that’s the thing about Westerberg: he really is one of the best songwriters out there, so I apply higher standards to him.

Eventually is an outstanding album. It far exceeds most of what’s out there today. So will it receive the attention it deserves? Probably not.

If you want to hear what bands like the Goo Goo Dolls will sound like in a few years, you can hear it now by picking up Paul Westerberg. No matter how old you feel.