The former Replacements frontman is back with a set of pure & true rock ’n’ roll tunes Keith Richards would be proud of. The soundtrack to Come Feel Me Tremble, a new Don’t Look Back-style documentary on Westerberg, matches perfectly the film’s stripped-down approach and it’s subject’s enthused boredom. Westerberg says even though he’s got plenty of jazz and Dylan in his record collection these days, the rock’n’roll he loved as a teenager—stuff like the Stones and The Faces—is still his favorite and it shows on Come Feel Me Tremble.
The album has a loose off-the-cuff feel reminiscent of The Replacements’ early work, but Westerberg’s passionately withdrawn voice has aged like wine—not exactly a vintage port, but more like the stashed bottle of Wild Irish Rose that’s been fermenting under the seat of your car for the past few weeks. With beautiful, tortured melodies filtered through its creator’s cigar-chomping, road-worn soul, Come Feel Me Tremble is an album for the moment, slouching proud, blemishes and all. If Westerberg’s music’s been anything, it’s always been honest.