Photo by Philip Cosores
The Replacements were the reunion that was never really supposed to happen. They got back together at Coachella just last year and played a few festival gigs throughout the summer, but it was never expected to go beyond that. Then out of nowhere, there’s a string of US concert dates announced. And not only that — they’re debuting new material at the shows.
The band has been touting a number called “Whole Foods Blues” at recent gigs, and now fan-shot video of the song has appeared online. The performance is from their show at Hollywood Palladium last Thursday, April 16th. From the title to the lyrics (“Yeah, I went down to Whole Foods/ To get something good to eat/ All I got was attitude/ From your hippie hair to your punk rock feet”), the song isn’t the most serious thing in the world, but it’s still a new Replacements song, so who’s complaining? Check it out below:
What’s more, a Billboard interview with the band’s manager, Darren Hill, reveals this isn’t the only new track the ‘Mats have in the can. The band previously said they’d “likely” put out a new album in the future, with seven or eight actual songs having already been recorded at Waltham, Massachusetts’ Woolly Mammoth Sound and Minneapolis musician Kevin Bowe’s home studio. “It’s just a question of what the band wants to ultimately do with them,” Hill explains. Studio work has been halted while on tour, and the band remains unsigned.
Still, fans will be able to purchase new-ish Replacements records this year, as Rhino has two vinyl box sets in the works for this summer. One contains the band’s four Twin/Tone records (Sorry Ma, I Forgot to Take Out the Garbage, Stink, Hootenanny and Let it Be), while the other holds their Sire releases (Tim, Pleased to Meet Me, Don’t Tell a Soul and All Shook Down). Neither set has been officially announced, so details are slim.
There’s also a new biography entitled Trouble Boys in the mix from Memphis Commercial Appeal writer Bob Mehr. In addition, they’re working on a deal with “Oscar-winning filmmakers” to create a new documentary. There’s even a secret project expected to launch later this year that Hill teases as “huge.”
Suddenly, 2015 looks like the year of The Replacements.
