If an observer were to look at the college music scene of the mid 1980's and only write down American bands, the one on the top of everyone's list would be R.E.M. The four men from Athens are still together - but the group which would appear #2 on many lists has long since broken up - the Replacements.
But, while Paul Westerberg is writing softer songs today, the void to many 'Mats fans is left unfilled. It was inevitable that bands other than the Goo Goo Dolls would try and fill that - but two lesser-known bands who bear watching for their similarities to the Replacements are Supple and Loomis.
Driving guitars battle with the voice of Supple's lead singer, Rob McCulloch's, for attention, but McCulloch wins out with a near-ringer for Westerberg's vocals. Whether crying out that "Cindy Crawford Can't Cook" (as if that's her strong point) or talking about getting drunk and being a bum (on "Guilty"), the theme around Puppet's Night Out is angst, more angst, and the indirect but biting hate. "Special Friend" brings in Amy Romesburg (of Thumper) on background vocals, lending a twist to this boy-hates-ex girlfriend song.
Loomis has a more authentic 'Mats feel, with a louder feedback on their guitars, while less of the Westerberg vocal qualities. The opening to "Kung Fu Girl" strikes back to the Stone Roses "I Wanna Be Adored", but contrasted sharply with a pound of feedback. That's the key to Loomis' sound on You're No Tiger, Meow Meow Meow - feedback with a wall of rock and roll. The tradeoff between the guitarists allows the listener to actually take in a sound which oscillates between the Replacements in three environments - on radio, on sound check, and three hours into one of their concerts.
Mind you, neither band has made a conscious effort to *be* the Replacements - it's just that the vocals, and the music, sound enough like the Minneapolis band to make a listener take notice. And there are plenty of worse groups that two new bands could be compared to.
