Soul Asylum Going Loony Toons

Soul Asylum Going Loony Toons

FEATURES

Mike Gitter

Prince and-Soul Asylum’s Dave Pirner have a lot more in common than one might think. First off, they’re both from Minneapolis, and secondly, they're both notorious for copping Elvis moves. Prince is the "angry little man," a prissy with an attitude, and Soul Asylum’s guitarist/vocalist Pirner wrote the book on precocious sexuality, whipping around a scraggly, wild mane and gyrating like the King in a beer-drenched backscrub bar.

Wipe the purple Prince had his opportunitjjgto play rock ’n’ roll Caligula, the plaidjfraped Pirner has no such intent. He’s||appy with the release of Soul Asylum’||najor label debut, Hang Time. In a surprising flash of keen sense, someone at A&M Records put two and two together and realized that (even by some stroke of weld fate) Soul Asylum couldn’t beat theirfilose, personal friend Prince in record sales. . .but at least the Asylum are way cooler.

Enlisting the unlikely production team of Ed Stasium—noted for work with the Ramones, Julian Cope and Vernon Reid’s Living Colour and Lenny Kaye— the Soul-boys trade in the crushing din of ex-Husker Du guitarist/ex-Soul Asylum producer Bob Mould for a major label debut bolstering their beg ’n’ borrow American rock gestalt with newfound and often jarringly klutzy arenaisms.

“Those guys wanted the record to be played right and so did we,” says bassist Karl Mueller. “On the other records we did stuff like bury a badly-played guitar track in the mix. There are a lot less overdubs on this record. A lot of the reason for the new record having more of a ‘big’ sound is due to where we recorded. When you record in Minneapolis you’re sort of doomed from the start, but on Hang Time we were able to record things the way they actually sound as opposed to opening the splooge gates and putting some flanger on things. It doesn’t sound like Bon Jovi though.”

Formed in 1981 under the moniker Loud Fast Rules, they were a band that guitarist Dan Murphy describes as “pretty thoroughly crummy but sure a hell of a lot of fun.” Soul Asylum’s earliest incarnation rode high on the Midwest’s pasion to bash it out. They entered the scene on the heels of Cleveland’s legendary Pagans and the early days of the Asylum’s hometown gurus, Husker Du. “We didn’t have any great aspirations,” remembers drummer Grant Young, “and all we were happy with was 25 bucks to split for beer at the end of the evening so we could get more fucked up.”

“We played our first gig so Dave wouldn’t get beaten up,” laughs Dan. “Dave was in a thoroughly mediocre band called the Shits who were on vacation and the local high school goon squad cornered Dave into forcing the Shits to play a party so he needed to find a band. After a week of practicing we actually went and played about 12 songs and that went well considering it was the first time that Karl had ever touched a bass before in his life.”

"We were forced to rock to prevent getting beaten up,” smirks Pirner. "We were paid 50 bucks, a case of Heineken and a bottle of Jack Daniels.”

"And the local popular high school cover band, Sinsemilla, was already booked that night," says Mueller.

"But what do you want for your money?” Dave inquires. "The Shits or Sinsemilla?”

Soul Asylum—now all 24 ar\d 25—were high school pals with simply nothing else to do. "I had a friend who showed me how to play guitar by teaching me Ramones songs." remembers Pirner. "They only had two chords so I was all set." Learning from punk classics by the Ramones, the Sex Pistols and the Stooges, punk was the great liberator for the youthful musical hacks of Soul Asylum. "Well, what can you say? ‘Hotel California’ just doesn’t translate to the practice space," jokes Mueller.

"And,” adds Pirner, "punk rock got a lot of people in bands that should have probably never been in bands.”

Following Loud Fast Rules’ name change to Soul Asylum and before signing to local record label coolsters Twin Tone (home of the Replacements and countless other Twin City giants), they issued their first vinyl, a mini-album entitled Say What You Will. A year later, with Young in the drummer's seat the band recorded their classic full length LP, Made To Be Broken, a hard-driving yet catchy amalgam of hardcore freight train rhythms, country twang and bellicose 70s rock.

"We’re an unholy cross between Kiss and Hank Williams.” says Karl.

Soul Asylum would be the ultimate wedding band from Hell with their extensive selection of undeniably rousing cover songs, an endearing staple of the live Soul Asylum experience. A medley of covers at a recent NYC gig included tuneful renditions of faves from Aerosmith, Brownsville Station, the Doors, Steppenwolf, Iggy and Gang Of Four. They’ll even show hometown favoritism by borrowing a fave from their old pal Prince. "Heck, we’ll ruin anyone’s song," says Pirner. Expect an EP entitled Clam Dip And Other Delights including a cover of Janis Joplin's "Move Over" and a much chagrined "mystery medley” destined to unveil many of Soul Asylum’s more eclectic musical inclinations. Already available' in Europe, Clam Dip marks the final chapter Df the longstanding Twin Tone/Soul Asyum relationship with its release here in the States this fall.

"The jacket is as good as anything on the record,” reveals Karl. "We took the idea from Herb Alpert's Whipped Cream And Other Delights. It really slays me how funny it is and it still isn't exactly what I wanted it to be.”

Long tagged everything from country to punk to Minneapolis thrash, Soul Asylum are happily settling upon the entirely unexpected label of (are you ready for this?) r. . a rock band'.W No pretense here, just plain and simple Midwest rock with a badass attitude. Gigging with everyone , from San Francisco metal technicians Death Angel to the Replacements to any number of country-rooted outfits, diversity proves Soul Asylum's trump card wmrii mg them longstanding fans and critical': acclaim from college radio highbrows to" unsuspecting, back-of-the-barroom cowboys and yahoos.1

Has success corrupted Soul Asylum? Has their frenetic, eclectic and all-around diverse approach been diluted by image■ conscious record company executives9 Will the perenially scraggly-faced Mr. Pirner be forced to shave? Spandex? Will: they tOour with Megadeth, Slayer or Jason . & The Nashville Scorchers? Probably? not— on all counts.

"We kind of have the problem of not: fitting into anything.” concludes Pirner "so we might as well try to appeal to our selves. It might be somebody’s idea heavy metal.”