Various - Left Of The Dial : A Tribute To The Replacements

  by Geraint Jones

published: 17 / 12 / 2001

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Review

Love them or loathe them, tribute albums are here to stay. Whilst their proliferation has been a relatively recent occurrence, artists have often chosen to turn their talents to the interpretation of other artists material, both live and on record. ‘Left Of The Dial’ is the third tribute to The Replacements in the last four years and although they’ve puzzlingly failed to sell particularly large quantities of records this latest tribute clearly demonstrates the high regard with which the band and their material are still held, almost ten years since they split up. The previous tributes, ‘So What?’ and ‘I’m In Love…With That Song’ featured contributions from alternative country and Australian alternative artists respectively whereas those paying homage on ‘Left Of The Dial’; are drawn from an array of predominantly American (power) pop performers. Paul Westerberg, the Replacements enigmatic frontman and songwriter always had the ability to marry his memorable lyrics to a catchy tune and combined with his well publicised reverence for Big Star’s Alex Chilton, one of power pop’s most influential progenitors, it was surely only a matter of time before contemporary (power) pop in turn acknowledged it’s debt to The Replacements. Many of the artists featured have opted for a straight cover version, most of which work successfully, but some have the confidence to imprint their own identities on these great songs. The contributions by Evelyn Forever, The Andersons, The Dipsomaniacs, Crash Into June, Jeremy, Garage Sale, Static Halo, Florapop, Horndog, Glowfriends, 1929 and the splendidly named Squid Vicious are all particularly good and get my vote, variously for energetic, innovative or irreverent versions – you’ll have to check out the album yourselves to work out which is which! Admittedly a few of the contributions may lack a little spark in terms of execution and inspiration, which is only to be expected on an album featuring 24 different artists, but overall this is an excellent tribute and comes strongly recommended.

Track Listing:-

1 Happy Regrets - Kiss Me On The Bus
2 Cockeyed Ghost - IOU
3 Evelyn Forever - Little Mascara
4 The Andersons - Nobody
5 Dipsomaniacs - Can't Hardly Wait
6 Crash Into June - Achin'To Be
7 Masticators - Bastard Of Young
8 The Marlowes - Alex Chilton
9 Jeremy - Here Comes A Regular
10 Lolas - Color Me Impressed
11 Bender - Don't Ask Why
12 The Put Outs - Nowhere Is My Home
13 Adam Leland - Skyway
14 Garage Sale - Buck Hill
15 Blank Pages - Nevermind
16 Popland - Swingin' Party
17 Static Halo - I Will Dare
18 Day Of Reckoning - Left Of The Dial
19 Florapop - Sixteen Blue
20 Horndog - Waitress In The Sky
21 The Cables - Valentine
22 Squid Vicious - Seen Your Video
23 Glowfriends - Sadly Beautiful
24 1929 - Treatment Bound