Paul Westerberg
Open Season
(Lost Highway)
Hopefully, Paul Westerberg will make a shitload of money off the Open Season soundtrack: The animated tale of forest animals is making a killing at the box office. The forgotten king of indie rock from Minneapolis, Westerberg deserves all the attention and cash coming to him. Open Season offers eight originals, mostly mid-tempo tunes, from the former head of the Replacements. If you think this album signifies the fall of a hero, take heart: These songs combine Westerberg’s mastery of the heartening (“Meet Me in the Meadow” and “The Right to Arm Bears”) and of the heart-wrenching (“I Belong,” here re-recorded by Pete Yorn).
—Sean Flinn
This article appears in Dec 6-12, 2007.