Shameless promotion of personal matters.

Just as a warning: yes, yes, I work for Parasol and they released this album. Shush. I really am recommending this because I’ve been listening to songs from it almost every day for the last week.

So, talking about the Replacements earlier reminded me of the Vertebrats, a band I’d like to recommend to all my Mats loving friends. They were a Champaign-Urbana band in the very very early 80s, and they created some really fabulous, straight-ahead garage rock. Actually, they were so good at it that the Replacements took to playing one of their best songs, Left in the Dark, in concert. (I believe it’s on Shit Hits the Fans, miscredited as Left Here in the Dark.) It’s a great heartbreak song in the fine tradition of Train in Vain, and Uncle Tupelo also covered it--see the bonus tracks from the new reissue of No Depression if you’re interested. What’s more, apparently Courtney Love is slapping it on her solo album, so you all better run out and get the original before she makes everyone hate it.

Anyhoo, if you’re interested, and you should be, A Thousand Day Dream, a compilation of 22 of their songs, has been released by Reaction, one of the Parasol labels. There’s plenty more than just Left in Dark—my faves include Johnny Avante, which mocks art students (and really, they need to be mocked), Jackie’s Gone, which I could almost see Bruce Springsteen singing, Oklahoma (for obvious reasons), and This Before, which is fun and sexy in a really wary and nervous way. You should all, all, all run over to Parasol and buy copies for yourself and your loved ones. And buy other stuff too—the prices are so low! You get bonus points if you wish Angie a happy belated birthday or tell Roy you’re sure his new pullover looks fine in the special instructions section of the order form.