Anything Could Happen

by Bash & Pop

Overview

When Tommy Stinson and Paul Westerberg reunited the Replacements for a concert tour in 2013, plenty of fans were hoping against hope that the new edition of the band would grace the world with a new album. That didn't happen, but maybe it's just as well. In the wake of the 'Mats' reunion hitting the ditch in 2015, Westerberg released one of his spunkiest rock & roll records in years, 2016's Wild Stab, in collaboration with Juliana Hatfield under the name the I Don't Cares. And Stinson has followed suit, reviving Bash & Pop, the short-lived but well-loved band he formed after the Replacements' original 1991 implosion. Outside of Stinson, no one who played on Bash & Pop's 1993 album, Friday Night Is Killing Me, appears on 2017's Anything Could Happen, but the two records share a very similar sound and feel. Stinson has said that he wanted the return of Bash & Pop to sound like a band with a good vibe playing live in the studio, and that's exactly what Anything Could Happen delivers. For these sessions, Stinson was joined by his core accompanists (Steve Selvidge on guitar and vocals, Justin Perkins on guitar and vocals, Tony Kieraldo on keyboards and vocals, and Joe Sirois on drums), with a few other players making guest appearances (including Luther Dickinson and Chip Roberts), and here the pieces fall together just right. The performances on Anything Could Happen have the sort of loose-limbed drive that the Faces made their trademark (and the Replacements strove to emulate), especially when Kieraldo attacks his electric piano with loving enthusiasm. Stinson performs with a perfect fusion of street-kid cockiness, regular-guy smirk, and occasional flashes on heart-on-sleeve philosophizing, and married to these rough-and-ready tunes, smart but never cocky about it, the effect is magic. Though Stinson is rarely as perceptive as Westerberg in his songwriting, here Tommy still sounds engaged with rock & roll in a way his former bandmate can't always muster these days, and he strikes a more satisfying balance between middle-aged responsibility and arrested-adolescent swagger. We'll probably never get that Replacements reunion album, but like Westerberg's Wild Stab, Anything Could Happen effectively channels the best of what Tommy Stinson brought to the Replacements, and this unexpected Bash & Pop "reunion" has made an album just about as good -- and every bit as much fun -- as their minor classic from the '90s. [Anything Could Happen was also released on LP.] ~ Mark Deming

Product Details

Release Date:	01/20/2017
Label:	Fat Possum Records
UPC:	0767981158211
Rank:	81922

Tracks

1. Not This Time
2. On the Rocks
3. Anything Could Happen
4. Breathing Room
5. Anybody Else
6. Can't Be Bothered
7. Bad News
8. Never Wanted to Know
9. Anytime Soon
10. Unfuck You
11. Jesus Loves You
12. Shortcut

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Bash & Pop   Primary Artist
Justin Perkins   Vocals,Percussion,Guitar (Acoustic)
Tommy Stinson   Vocals,Percussion,Guitar (Bass),Guitar (Rhythm)
Joe Sirois   Drums
Tony Kieraldo   Organ,Piano,Vocals,Wurlitzer
Davey Lane   Guitar
Cat Popper   Double Bass,Guitar (Bass)
Chip Roberts   Guitar
Steve Selvidge   Guitar,Vocals
Frank Ferrer   Drums
Luther Dickinson   Guitar

Technical Credits

Luther Dickinson   Group Member
Carl Davino   Engineer
John Kastner   Management
Justin Perkins   Mixing,Mastering,Group Member
Tommy Stinson   Composer,Producer,Group Member
Joe Sirois   Group Member
Tony Kieraldo   Group Member
James Bellesini   Cover Design
Ben Perlstein   Management,Cover Photo,Layout Concept
Davey Lane   Group Member
Cat Popper   Group Member
Chip Roberts   Composer,Group Member
Ben Harman   Design
Joss Ryan Doherty   Engineer
Steve Selvidge   Group Member
Frank Ferrer   Group Member