omgomgomg. So. Recently. [because I'm lame with no money] I got their album. And. It. Is. Wonderful. Gah. I can't believe it took me so long. It's genius and truely inspired. It's also quite different from anything that's out right now. I loved it so much I learned how the play Nature Springs on the guitar [poorly, I might add].
Doesn't the bassline in one of the songs sound reminiscent of Crooked Beat..?
Speaking of Paul's coolness, I just found this in an interview with The Replacements/Soul Asylum/Guns 'N Roses' bassist Tommy Stinson.
Quote
What music were you listening to back in those early days? When I bought [The Clash’s] ‘London Calling’, that changed me. I suddenly had someone I wanted to emulate. I was like: ‘I wanna be Paul Simonon’. That guy was the coolest looking thing on the planet since David Bowie. From there I went from the British punk rock to the LA hardcore scene.
Gah! The whole The Good, the Bad, and the Queen/Gorillaz/Blur/Verve/Dub Pistols Brit-rock/pop stuff scene thing has recently gone through this huge like makeover. All the band members keep switching over and joining other groups, playing different instruments, dropping out, going solo, joining again in a different group.
I say they should all merge to form one large SUPERGROUP! which can rule Brit-pop.
See there are mixed messages coming from them. I heard that it was only ever supposed to be a part time thing and that they weren't going to record anything new again. Maybe it was too good a shot to miss. They did get a best album of the year from NME or someone, forget who.