Hootenanny

Hootenanny is the bridge between the Mats’ slash-and-burn early music and the poignant college rock anthems of their albums to come. By 1982, the band’s reckless, restless attitude was running high, and the material they turned in for Hootenanny was a perfect reflection of their eclectic musical tastes and unwillingness to be anything but contrary. The fans wanted tunefulness; the band gave them the breakneck blast of “Run It.” The fans wanted straight ahead rock’n’roll; the band gave them the skeletal, sensitive “Within Your Reach,” which features only Paul Westerberg, his guitar, and a drum machine. The fans wanted anything but blues, country, or surf-rock; with “Hootenanny,” “Treatment Bound,” and “Buck Hill,” the band gave them cheerful pastiches of all three genres. When all else failed, the band tried to wile out of playing songs altogether; “Loveliness” is an impish swing tune with lyrics that consist solely of Westerberg reciting personal ads from the Minneapolis City Pages. The Mats seemed to want nothing more than to sabotage their careers, but for all its attempts to annoy us, Hootenanny ended up having something for everyone, and it remains the most endearing, down home album in the band’s catalogue.