Jesus, last Friday feels three weeks ago. The last five days of my life, the shit show that was, more than justify a dip into my secret Slam cache and some ’Mats cranked to eleven. The perfect pill: the studio demo of “Kiss Me on the Bus” off the expanded reissue of Tim—truly the missing link between the shit faced PUNK RAWK of the band’s earlier releases and the more sentimental jangle of their later.* It strikes me just how much better this version seems to capture the lyric’s teenage libido than the more controlled, poppier album cut—proof positive of all that Bob Stinson (RIP) brought to the table, and further evidence of the tragedy that is the band’s current estrangement. In other news, everybody remember to patronize their favorite local record store tomorrow—Record Store Day exclusives include releases from Built to Spill, Caribou, Crowded House,  Deerhoof, Foo Fighters, Gorillaz, Kings of Leon, Mastodon, of Montreal, Pearl Jam, Pinback, REM, Sonic Youth, the Joy Formidable, the Velvet Underground, and MANY MOOOOOORE….

*Don’t take this wrong—I kneel before the glory of all things Westerberg.